Despite leaning quite a bit into dark comedy, the latest “Resident Evil” still offers up its share of creepy moments. Overall, it’s little like “The Thing” with a splash of “Shaun of the Dead.” The film’s plot is shockingly straight-forward and is essentially a man trying to make it from point A to point B while encountering horrific obstacles. Things escalate fairly quickly once we get the first zombie, in both the tension and with the type of threats encountered by the lead character of Brian. Acting-wise, Austin Abrams does a solid job in this role, especially considering we only briefly see any other characters in the film. The film does a great job of creating tension by limiting what the characters and the audience can see by use of lights and shadow. There’s no telling what’s behind the corner until he gets there, usually with only a cellphone light to pierce through the darkness. However, this all starts to get a little repetitive approach the third act as becomes too formulaic, and you realize the lead character has to have enough plot-armor to make it to the climax. There is a surprising amount of humor in the movie. Much of it is tied to the fact that Brian is always in over his head and he knows it. (Also, a few of the supporting characters that pop-up are usually used in comedic film roles, so that pushes things to feel almost a little too silly at times.) There are some pretty bold choices for the third act, and it felt like it caused the finale to end with a bit of a head-scratching moment. Overall, the film looks great, with moody environment enhanced by ominous lighting. The creature effects are solid and while there appears to be a fair amount of CG used, it’s not distracting.
*** out of *****