Resident Evil Reviews Praise Bold Filming Choice That Dwayne Johnson’s Video Game Movie Couldn’t Pull Off

Early critic reviews for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil are officially in, and they are overwhelmingly positive. The latest horror movie is the second reboot and eighth theatrical entry in the overall RE film series.

Unlike Dwayne Johnson’s Doom, which used a first-person perspective, Resident Evil takes a different visual approach. Cregger frequently uses a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective in the film. That makes the movie more like playing a video game than watching one.

Zach Cregger’s #ResidentEvil absolutely rocks! Less an adaptation of a game and more a movie that makes you feel like you’re playing one.

From creepy first-person sequences to chaotic monster fights, the film keeps scaling up the intensity and never really lets you catch your… pic.twitter.com/s1XuWGI7CW

— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) September 16, 2026

In an interview with IGN, the filmmaker described the approach as “it was really a dance between him and our camera operator [shooting with] a really wide lens.” The 45-year-old added, “When he looks left, we pivot around to look left. And when he looks right, we swing around and look right. I really try to incorporate just the visual language of the games into the movie.”

At present, the R-rated film holds a 96% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 71 reviews.

What critics are saying about Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil

Critics have praised Cregger’s approach to adapting the long-running video game franchise. The movie is earning praise for its relentless pace, dark humor, and terrifying set pieces.

ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim praised the film’s stripped-down approach. Rather than featuring more established characters, Cregger focuses on Bryan’s journey through an outbreak in Raccoon City. It called the result “a surprisingly effective horror thriller that understands that sometimes the simplest idea can be the most terrifying.”

GamesRadar+’s Jordan Farley called it “the best Resi movie by a distance, and the best video game movie, full stop,” praising Cregger for understanding the franchise better than his predecessors.

UPI‘s Fred Topel wrote that the movie marks a first for the genre. After noting decades of “good for a video game movie” caveats attached to past adaptations, Topel declared RE is “officially the first great movie based on a video game.”

The Austin Abrams-led film hits the theaters on September 18, 2026, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Source: Comingsoon.net