Netflix's Resident Evil Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs
Fans will be massively divided by Netflix's bold new take on the franchise.
While genuinely good live-action adaptations of video games remain disappointingly few and far between - let alone great ones - it's impressive that Resident Evil has totted up seven theatrically released movies, the vast majority of which have even been commercially successful.
Yet reviews have ranged from mixed-to-negative across the board, with many feeling that the iconic survival horror series' wide canvas might be better-suited to the small screen.
And so, Netflix comes to the rescue, green-lighting an eight-episode Resident Evil TV series while promising big-budget thrills and a fresh new take on the well-trod story.
And while this new Resident Evil - which is more a reimagining than an outright reboot - gets points for stepping outside the series' comfort zone while dishing up quality production values and a solid cast, the creative aspect remains an abject mess.
Netflix's Resident Evil isn't a dumpster fire on the level of the later Paul W.S. Anderson movies, but nevertheless suffers from a debilitating identity crisis, at once trying to please franchise fans and establish itself as something markedly different. The results are frustratingly uneven, if certainly not worthless.
With that in mind, here's where the series stumbles most...