Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger has already been under a bit of scrutiny from Resident Evil fans for his upcoming film adaptation because it doesn’t include any characters from Capcom’s games and because he may have flubbed some Resident Evil lore in an interview, or something. But even if Leon Kennedy isn’t showing up in the movie, Cregger seems to understand the spirit of the series he’s creating his own spin on, both in how terrifying the games can be, and how hilariously frustrating it is when you’re bad at playing them.
Sony released a short interview with Cregger in which he talks about the philosophy behind the movie, specifically saying he hopes it captures what the average Joe might feel like upon being dropped into a Resident Evil game, rather than a seasoned professional survivor like Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield.
So I had this idea for a story in the world of Resident Evil, but It’s kind of like me, like if I was dropped into a Resident Evil game. I’m terrible with guns. I wouldn’t know how any of them work. I would miss 99% of all of my shots.
The video underlines this by showing a clip of Bryan, the new survivor the film follows, trying to shoot a lock off a door and missing the shot, wasting some of his precious ammo, which is a pretty universal Resident Evil experience when you’re not playing one of the more action-oriented games like 5 or 6. This year’s Resident Evil Requiem captured this especially well with newcomer Grace, whose gameplay segments focused heavily on resource management while featuring a character who was new to all this zombie-fighting nonsense.
I know there are a lot of fans who are upset that the movie isn’t adapting one of the Resident Evil games or even including its characters, but take it from me, a direct recreation of the game you like opens you up to a great deal more disappointment than seeing how a new thing unfolds. Resident Evil is coming to theaters on September 18.