The Resident Evil movie from Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger releases in theaters on September 18. Reviews from critics went live today, and the movie is earning high scores. GameSpot’s Resident Evil review scored it an 8 and said it successfully captures the breathless terror of the games.
In fact, it’s now the highest-rated video game movie ever. It boasts a mightily impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes from 71 reviews and an equally impressive 80 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic. According to Metacritic, Resident Evil is the highest-rated video game movie ever, well ahead of another 2026 movie, Exit 8, which has a 71 Metascore.
The six Resident Evil movies that Paul W.S. Anderson made did not score very high with critics, with 2016’s The Final Chapter topping them all at 49% on Metacritic. The latest Resident Evil movie before Cregger’s, 2021’s Welcome to Raccoon City from director Johannes Roberts, scored a 44% on Metacritic.
After that movie came out, Constantin, which has owned the movie rights to Resident Evil since the ’90s, intended to put the franchise on hiatus. However, Cregger, coming off the success of Barbarian, pitched Constantin on his new, original take, and Constantin loved it so much that they put it into production.
Video game movies had a track record of mediocrity at best for years, but the tide is turning in recent times. This could be for many different reasons, but some have theorized that part of what made video game movies of yesteryear poor in terms of reception was that, in large part, the game studios and creative minds behind them were not involved in the development process.
That’s changed now. Oliver Berben, the CEO of Constantin, said that while his team didn’t contractually need to consult with Capcom, the film studio did so anyway to ensure it was respecting and caring for the IP and its fans.
That might be a surprise to some gamers, as many have voiced their concerns and dislike for Cregger’s take on Resident Evil, in part because he’s telling a new story and not adapting any previous games or featuring any of its characters.
Cregger said in press interviews that he felt like he was on an apology tour instead of a press tour due to the fan blowback. He’s also admitted that he was naive to think fans would embrace him and his ideas, but ultimately he made the movie he wanted to, and it’s clearly resonating with critics.
Nintendo, meanwhile, went further than many have in terms of Hollywood adaptations. The company was not only creatively involved in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but co-financed them. For 2027’s The Legend of Zelda movie, Nintendo is putting up more than 50% of the funding, so it would seemingly get to call the shots.
This contrasts with the arrangement Take-Two and Gearbox had for the poorly received and commercial flop that was the Borderlands movie. Lionsgate funded it, not Gearbox or owner Take-Two, and it was the film company that paid the price for the flop, at least financially.
Resident Evil officially releases on September 18, but screenings begin on September 17. The movie is expected to have the biggest opening weekend ever for a Resident Evil movie.
The film stars Austin Abrams, who had a standout performance in Cregger’s Weapons, as a medical courier who takes on a job that brings him to Raccoon City. Everything goes badly, of course, and Abrams himself nearly died for real making the movie.
