The first trailer for Zach Cregger’s “faithful” Resident Evil movie has been released, giving fans their first look at the horror icon’s take on the beloved video game series.
The movie tells an “original” story within the Resident Evil universe. The trailer sees courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) crashing his car while on a run, and getting stranded in a zombie-ravaged Racoon City. The clip features fan-favourite undead beasties as well as a faithful recreation of how players typically discover different weapons and ammo in the games.
However, while classic Resident Evil games take place in the ‘90s, Zach Cregger’s take on the franchise is set in modern times and instead of a rainy Racoon City, we see it covered in snow. “I take liberties,” he told IGN. “It’s not 1998. It takes place in modern times. I know that during the events of Resident Evil 2, it’s not snowing [but] in this movie, I thought it would be better for the story and for the visual, if it was snowy. It’s going to be a better movie for it.”
“I am not trying to adapt a video game. I’m not using the characters from the games. I’m not telling a story that the games tell because I’m not going to be able to do it better than the games,” he continued. “The games are so well executed and to me, Leon and Claire exist so perfectly in the games that anyone I cast and any difference that I do with them would be, probably, to the detriment of what I was trying to do.”
It’s sparked a debate online about how faithful video game adaptations should be. “I have lived enough to be distrusting of any adaptation that is a ‘love letter’ to the source material,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “Still feels like they used the name to generate interest in what is mostly an unrelated horror movie, and that comes across as disingenuous,” added another.
“I don’t personally want this. Why does Hollywood keep making these films and then changing things to fit their ‘artistic visions’ or telling the story they wanted to tell? You can do that, just don’t slap the Resident Evil name on it. How hard is that concept to grasp,” said a third.
