I love Resident Evil. Besides the nostalgia factor, the games managed to hit on the perfect combination of survival horror and over-the-top action movie dialogue,  especially when Leon is concerned. And yeah, we’re gonna talk about Leon a lot, so consider this a content warning. 

One of the reasons I spent a lazy Labor Day watching Resident Evil: Damnation is largely due to the direction the press for Zac Cregger’s RE movie is heading.  The approach to the movie feels like it couldn’t be more different.  Now to be clear, I’m writing this having only read interviews with Cregger.  I have not seen the movie yet. Although I will be going to see it as soon as it hits theaters.

There was a lot of split reaction early on. A lot of this is based on a pretty badass trailer and a few interviews Cregger did. The main complaint fans have is pretty much what you would expect: it doesn’t look like the games. If you are comparing what we’ve seen to the newest games, this is totally fair. We’ll get into that more in a bit. 

Adapting a 30 Year old Franchise

But is it really a problem?  Resident Evil started as a tension –heavy, resource management game, filled with edgy moments and jump scares. Cregger has a clear love of the atmospheric horror that the games are known for. His choice of a vulnerable protagonist clearly highlights the feeling of helplessness the games want to convey. 

Cregger has stated that he is not using any of the core cast members of the game. He’s also changed the timeline of the Raccoon City outbreak to a more modern setting. All of these elements could look like a departure from the core elements of Resident Evil.   I think it all depends on what flavor of Resident Evil you prefer: horror, action or…Winters. 

The games start simple, or relatively so, with the outbreak in Raccoon City. After the U.S. government nukes the city, Umbrella Corporation goes bankrupt and vanishes. At this point, long-running hero Leon Kennedy is a cop, not the super-agent he will become.  Here we meet all our main characters: Chris and Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker. 

A lot of these characters weave in and out of the rest of the games, creating elaborate relationships between all of them. Like a soap opera with mutants.  Resident Evil 4 changed the tone from horror to more globe-trotting action. It covers outbreaks of Las Plagas, a mind-controlling and mutating parasite, in Spain and Africa. 

Leon Content Warning

Leon gets a promotion to secret agent. As well as the starring role, he’s also the only man who realizes how ludicrous everything happening is.  Even as the games up the insane plot twists, they’re grounded by a protagonist who always has the perfect quip for the scenario. He’s a great lead: heroic, but self-aware, very much in the style of old ‘90s action movies. It’s easy to see why fans gravitated to him.

The Winter’s saga brings us back to the origins of Umbrella, with some sentient psychic mold. It’s a great couple of games but suffers from a lack of Leon.  Ethan Winters does return the game back to a more everyman hero.  He also fights psychic mold.

Leon returns in the newest game. I don’t know if it’s any good, having not been able to finish it due to lack of time. The devs made the brilliant choice to age him up a bit. The internet was grateful.

Time for a Review

Damnation is an animated film that takes place between Resident Evil 5 and 6.   Leon is once again tasked with saving the world from Las Plagas, released at the hands of people who don’t understand the long-term implications. 

There is a bit of mutually assured destruction happening thematically. Two sides are fighting far beyond what is reasonable, and are also unwilling to back down based on principal and greed. War claims everyone, innocent and guilty alike, so maybe don’t even go down that path?

But this is not a movie overly concerned with theme. This is a movie that wants you to feel like you’re in the world of Resident Evil. And there, it succeeds. This easily could have been a game. Leon feels like Leon, Ada does delightfully Ada things, and the supporting cast are wonderfully written. You can feel when the boss battle drops, and I’m a sucker for that in a video game movie. 

It also made me feel sympathy for lickers. While I admit I may be a soft target, isn’t the easiest to pull off.  So, you know. Good job.

Of course, if you aren’t already a fan of Resident Evil, you’re never going to watch Damnation.   Zero time is spent explaining who Leon is or what any of this means.  New fans need a better introduction to the world and how things got here in the first place. Maybe by focusing on someone unrelated to the disaster, who gets dragged to it by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, someone like a medical courier? I don’t know, I’m just spit-balling here.

Final Thoughts

Resident Evil may have started as one very specific thing. After 30 games and 15 film or TV adaptations, it’s grown into something else entirely.  There’s plenty of room in the franchise for different types of stories. I’ll be seeing Cregger’s Resident Evil and it will probably impress me just as much as his other movies. But, there had better be lickers. 

Resident Evil Damnation is available on streaming.