My quick rating – 7.2/10. Being a big fan of the games and most of the previous movies, I wasn’t exactly hesitating to check this one out. It doesn’t take long before things go sideways, starting with hapless courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) arriving at a hospital while casually chit-chatting on the phone. He’s soon tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital, which naturally comes with the incentive of double pay. Now, if someone offered me double money to deliver something to Raccoon City, I’d consider that a pretty solid warning sign to tell them where to shove their package. Add a snowstorm to the mix, and you have all the ingredients for a thoroughly miserable evening.
We even get the obligatory in-your-face warning to keep your eyes on the road, which is always reassuring when you’re about to enter a nightmare. Before long, Bryan finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and fighting through hordes of mutated creatures just to stay alive.
Writer/director Zach Cregger puts together a terrific opening, and there are some nice little nods to gamers along the way. One moment involving Bryan checking his gun magazine and discovering he has only four bullets left definitely felt familiar. Anyone who’s played these games knows that particular feeling of panic. Nothing says survival horror quite like having enough ammunition to mildly inconvenience the next monster.
Bryan is also ridiculously dedicated to his delivery job. The amount of insane shit this poor dude encounters would have most people reconsidering their career, but not him. He just keeps pushing forward. Almost as if he’s controlled by someone sitting on a couch refusing to quit until they’ve finished the level. Whether intentional or not, there’s a definite survival horror feel to his journey.
The creepy imagery is effective, the monsters look fantastic, and there’s a nice combination of CGI and practical effects. The action is also really well done, although the comedy gets a little too much attention at the expense of the horror. That’s a shame because whenever the movie decides to genuinely creep you out, it does a damn good job. Abrams is the centre of most of the humor and handles it well. The other characters, meanwhile, are about as developed as NPCs waiting for you to walk past them and trigger their next line of dialogue.
Thankfully, the pacing is excellent, and that entire ending sequence is an absolute bloody blast. It does wrap things up rather abruptly, with a fairly obvious sequel tease, but I’m certainly not complaining if there’s more to come.
Overall, this fan of both the games and movies walked away satisfied. It might have benefited from a little less comedy and a few more scares, but there’s plenty of entertaining chaos to enjoy. Consider the delivery successfully completed. Just don’t expect Bryan to get a five-star customer rating from Raccoon City. You didn’t really think I would be avoiding horror for long, did you?
