'Resident Evil' (2002) Review: An Unfaithful but Fun Horror-Action B-Movie
By Dan Bremner - September 9, 2026
The first live-action adaptation of the Resident Evil video-game franchise, and in turn became what was the most successful game to film series to date. With Zach Cregger’s reboot due out next week, it felt like the right time to revisit and REview (yes, I’m very clever) all the previous films.
Resident Evil (2002), directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Milla Jovovich (Anderson's future wife), is a film I genuinely loved as a kid. Some of my earliest video-game memories are playing the original three games on Playstation 1, so of course I watched this silly, dumb adaptation on a loop when I was far too young for it. In recent years I’ve hardened towards it quite a bit, but maybe I was just in a Resi mood as there’s still definite fun to be had with this incredibly unfaithful retelling.
Outside of the Spencer Mansion location, a few Umbrella Corporation and Raccoon City name-drops, Resident Evil (2002) has almost nothing in common with the first game. That was an atmospheric, dread-heavy survival horror full of puzzles and resource management. The film is the complete opposite: a relentlessly post-Matrix sci-fi action venture that happens to feature zombies. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still have a soft spot for this exact brand of early-2000s trash.
This is pure post-Matrix filmmaking. Black leather, slow-motion kicks, holographic interfaces, and that trying to be “cool” techno-thriller atmosphere that every studio was chasing in the era. It hasn’t aged into something cool so much as it has become a perfect time capsule of what mid-budget action cinema thought was cutting-edge at the turn of the millennium. That dated quality is actually part of the charm now, and whenever I revisit something like this, I'm instantly reminded how much I missed when films were allowed to be this overly stylised and stupid.
The plot itself is pure generic cheese. The amnesiac Alice (Jovovich) wakes up, gets briefed by a holographic AI (the Red Queen), then fights her way through an underground lab full of the undead and corporate conspiracy, accompanied by a cannon-fodder special-ops team. It’s silly, paper-thin and completely disconnected from the games’ tone, though a few images (most famously the laser corridor) would later get borrowed back by the games themselves.
Milla Jovovich is the only clear standout in the cast. As Alice she delivers a compelling, physical and charismatic performance that is leagues above any of the other cast. She has real presence and athletic intensity, and you can see exactly why they decided to build an entire franchise around her. The supporting cast, on the other hand, are mostly one-dimensional stick figures with terrible dialogue who exist purely to be killed off. You never form any attachment, so the deaths barely register. Michelle Rodriguez is the only real other face, doing her usual hard-edged tough girl routine without any character.
Anderson directs with surprising style for the budget, coming off a string of flops (Event Horizon deserved so much more). There are dynamic camera moves, a decent sense of claustrophobia in the Hive, and a handful of properly memorable set pieces. The laser corridor remains the highlight, still inventive, nasty and still satisfying. The zombie dog attacks (including that slow-motion kick) and the introduction of the Licker also deliver the kind of gory, energetic B-movie thrills the film is aiming for. The first half in particular works well as a techno-thriller, with strong sound design and a propulsive pace that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Where it falls down is in the things that actually made the games special. There’s very little genuine horror or sustained tension once the initial novelty wears off. It prioritises volume and stylish action over dread or atmosphere. A lot of the CGI (especially the Licker in places) has aged poorly, even if there is some effort into lots of zombie extras with strong makeup effects. A strong score from Marco Beltrami also does a lot to elevate things, as does the banger theme song from Marilyn Manson (God bless the noughties).
You can already see the entire Anderson/Jovovich Resident Evil formula being locked in here: Alice as the near-indestructible centre of the universe, increasingly ridiculous set pieces, a vague conspiracy plot that will never properly resolve, and a complete disinterest in the games’ actual atmosphere. This first film is still the most restrained and coherent version of that formula. Everything that followed just got louder and dumber, and I look forward to revisiting them all.
Resident Evil (2002) remains a weirdly watchable and entirely unfaithful adaptation. A brainless and dumb B-movie with a lot of style, fun moments, and a strong lead in Milla Jovovich. It's far from good, but a fast-paced piece of horror-action cheese from the early 2000s, it remains an oddly charming time capsule of studio filmmaking. Resident Evil in name only.
Come back for more Resident Evil content as we count down to Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil' - Releasing in cinemas on September 19, 2026.
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Dan Bremner
Writer
Dan is a writer from Guildford with a love for all things genre, schlocky, and thoroughly '80s, and a part-time philanthropist.
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