Well, this is apparently the second trailer to come out for the upcoming Resident Evil. I'm a little disappointed that they called it "Resident Evil" and nothing but that. Do they not understand how confusing using the same title on multiple creations? That's not even just the movie and the game, they titled that for that Netflix TV Show. Anyway, they announce that this is by the same director as Weapons, Zach Cregger. One look at the main character and hearing just two sentences of dialogue and that was an especially easy conclusion to come to. Now, how does this look?
Well, it's not exactly what I was hoping for, but it does look promising in some areas. For the good part, it does look like it actually is a horror movie with scares and creepy atmosphere. Obviously, we have the Cregger writing on full display with the... let's call it... "languid" pacing and progression. That brings it to a sour note in the trailer, though. I know we're not going for video game accuracy, but is this the way to go? Resident Evil is more than just guns and zombies, you need to solidify some Raccoon City elements into your movie and link it with the bigger picture, if just in some smaller way.
This trailer did not seem interested in this at all... except for the organ. The fact that this is an organ delivery guy tells me that he may be going to some lab or very important medical facility that holds some secrets to the T Virus, which is on plain display here. There are some good looking scenes that look soaked in suspense and a very human character who is clumsy, awkward, and just doing his best to make a buck. These are the characters that Cregger excels at, even some of the more unsightly aspects of real life people.
The gore looks plentiful, the atmosphere looks about right, but the problem is that, while it may just be a good start, if this is our main character for the rest of the film... well I hope he grows a spine. I really hope this becomes something of an actual arch for this guy and he becomes hardened, while also becoming more skilled with various ways of survival. At least make him set some traps for the zombies or something substantial to his character development.
It looks like it could be promising. Hopefully, Cregger is enough of a fan of Resident Evil to pull off the very first good Resident Evil live action film/series since Resident Evil 2002. To some extent, I have some faith in Zach Cregger. He seems to know the assignment when he creates a film and if they gave him enough creative freedom, there's a good chance he could pull it off. This review of the trailer could age like milk for all I know, but that's the point of an initial reaction to a trailer. This is at least some hope in a vast desert that we all know is coming. The film industry, the comic industry, the video game industry, all of them are going to be coming up dry for the foreseeable future. It's alright, we'll be fine, so long as we drink our water.
