Netflix's Resident Evil Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

2. The Compelling World-Building

What Resident Evil achieves better than the vast majority of video game adaptations is a convincing sense of place, beyond merely giving fans of the games the hotspots they know and love.

2022's South African setting of New Raccoon City may look absolutely nothing like the Raccoon City of the video games, but the sharp, evocative production design - reimagining it as a pristine community built by Umbrella itself - effectively places us in this world.

Similarly, though the future UK narrative in 2036 isn't nearly as strong, we're rooted firmly in a country - a globe, even - torn apart by the ravages of the T-virus, and the effects-heavy production thoroughly convinces of that.

The run-down refugee settlements, the overgrown London streets, and everything in-between, sell a world on the brink of collapse and desperate to find a way back.

It's just a shame this lived-in world isn't matched by more worthy ideas in the scripting department.