The Resident Evil series has dropped on Netflix and already it’s received a slew of mixed reviews – some love it and some really don’t.
Since Capcom released the OG Resident Evil game back in 1996 there have been numerous movies, games, spin-offs, reboots, and sequels – now the latest is a Netflix Original series that dropped today, July 14.
Resident Evil Netflix Series
The latest instalment in the long-running franchise focuses on the classic series villain Albert Wesker and spreads across two timelines: one set in 2022, when Wesker (Lance Reddick) and his half-twin daughters Billie (Siena Agudong) and Jade (Tamara Smart), as they move to New Raccoon City.
The second timeline is set in 2036, 14 years after a deadly virus causes a global outbreak focusing on an older Jade (Ella Balinska) as she searches for a cure while evading the Umbrella Corporation.
Without giving too much of the plot away the eight-part series definitely dips into key events of several Resident Evil games.
Resident Evil series gets mixed reviews
However, since it dropped several outlets have had lots of different reviews – some loved it and some were not feeling the love for the series.
First up is The Independent whose writer, Nick Hilton, gave the series a toe out of five stars, calling it a ‘shonky adaptation we didn’t need’ – ouch.
Nick wrote: ‘The whole thing is shonky. The writing, by necessity, is largely expository and clichéd (“Scientists said the world would end in 2036,” Jade’s opening monologue announces. “But they were wrong: the world ended a long time ago”), though they also find room for some weird asides, courtesy, mainly, of Paola Núñez’s very evil Evelyn Marcus.’
Collider wasn’t much kinder, its writer Ross Bonaime called it a ‘biohazard that should be avoided’. He wrote: ‘Resident Evil as a universe has such a rich history, with decades worth of characters, stories, and mysteries to dive into.
‘Netflix’s Resident Evil does its best to integrate these into a more expansive series but flounders under poor execution, awkward performances, and fan service that rarely works. There’s a great Resident Evil adaptation in here somewhere, but like the zeroes scattered throughout this show, Resident Evil mostly just bites.’
The Telegraph’s writer was much nicer, giving it four out five stars, and saying the network’s ‘gamble’ paid off with ‘impressive results’.
Ed power wrote: ‘Resident Evil is a zombie caper that knows what it’s here for. And that is to fill the screen with rampaging hordes of undead and to reassure horror fans that there is life after The Walking Dead. Those boxes are ticked in dead impressive fashion.’
GameSpot gave the series a nine out of ten calling it the ‘best adaptation they’ve seen yet’.