Not Jill Valentine, not Chris, not Leon, not Claire. In the first production for the small screen of Resident Evil, shot with flesh and blood actors, none of the protagonists of the video games appear. Not even Ethan Winters, although the main character of RE Village was not expected either. In his absence, Resident Evil, the Netflix series centers around albert wesker’s family. The same Wesker that we have seen in the Capcom saga? Well, let’s say that finding out is one of the axes on which the series itself revolves.
Netflix and Constantin Films dare to expand the universe resident Evil developing a completely original story that takes very little account of the Raccoon City disaster of 1998, but that for all intents and purposes disregards video games while transporting us to two different times: a dystopian 2022 under the control of the Umbrella pharmaceutical company and a zombie apocalypse not far enough back in time or too different from those seen ad nauseam in other Netflix series and movies.
From a certain point of view, that is not a bad thing. For the record. Proposing a series that enriches the background created by Capcom or uses it as a springboard to offer interesting premises is an opportunity worth exploring on the small screen. Develop a completely original series as well, at least if it manages to bring some of the essence of video games to the viewer. Unfortunately, that is not the case Resident Evil, the Netflix series.
Which is hugely surprising when Constantine Films, the production company, has been adapting the Capcom franchise for two decades. Specifically, from the 2002 film that today, seeing what came later, we see with different eyes. And although it is not a debacle, it is paradoxical that Resident Evil, the Netflix series, so brazenly disengage from the video game saga itself. What, of course, should be your main claim.
Resident Evil: a Netflix blockbuster, another mediocre Capcom adaptation
Constantin Films has tried absolutely everything when it comes to transferring the mythical Survival Horror saga to the small and big screen, but even in those it still fails to hit the ground running. Resident Evil, the Netflix seriesis the penultimate cartridge that he had left to use, being -as we already mentioned- the most experimental incursion of the production company in Capcom’s zombie apocalypse, with the good and the bad, and the risk that comes with it.
And even though meets when it comes to reinforcing Netflix’s catalog of apocalyptic thrillers, there is no doubt about that, it stumbles and collapses in front of the fan of zombie series, those who are passionate about games or anyone who hopes to find something similar to a Survival Horror divided into eight one-hour episodes. Because the series resident Evil is many things at once, but of Survival Horror has less than what is fair and necessary.
So what’s in that eight hours of footage uploaded to Netflix? From the start we already anticipate that almost everything interesting has been shown in the trailers. And although there are some other things that have been saved, it is not enough.
Far from being a breath of fresh air, in the series of resident Evil we are before the same hackneyed templates of current television productions. The templates of characters, themes and dilemmas in which the personal and the vocational conflict. Templates that the streaming video giant has used ad nauseam. Including a clumsily executed progression of events through an abuse of analepsis that seeks to explore present and past simultaneously. That, in 2022, is no longer original or effective.
We also did not expect resident Evil It was from The Godfather, Part II, of course, but, unlike Coppola’s cult film, one of the great failures of this first season is its failure to establish the foundations that support the present, it disappoints in its future resolutions and its surprises , that there are, deflate without causing an impact except in a couple of cases. Earning additional minutes by dizzying its protagonists in an absolutely unnecessary way. Arrived at the final bars, that ends up playing against him and, by extension, weighing down the whole.
A pity, since with a different approach there was material and actors to offer something better to the viewer and really promising loose ends are left for the whole.
Don’t get me wrong: Constantine Films has already tried everything. First, with a film saga that has worked wonders at the box office, pecking elements from video games on a whim to assemble six installments of explosive popcorn action with apocalyptic background elements. Prioritizing entertainment above all else, and that’s not a bad thing, mind you. Then, with a reinterpretation closer to video games in terms of plot, consolidating the film roots of Series B of the first games, but full of errors and shortcomings.
The problems of resident Evil, the Netflix series, are very different, but the sensation it provokes is the same as that of its previous attempts: if you used the acronym of one of the most relevant video game sagas of the last quarter of a century, the result should have been better. Or at least, strive for meet expectations based on what has been learned. And considering how low the bar was after Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, pulling it off wasn’t that hard.
The Wesker family settles in New Raccoon City, what could possibly go wrong?
It’s the year 2036 and the world has gone to hell. The world’s population has been reduced to 300 million humans who survive in improvised fortifications or territory protected by the Umbrella pharmaceutical megacorporation, and it is not clear which of the two options is worse. The rest of humanity? It is speculated that there are 6,000 million zero’ssubjects mutated with the T virus that, for practical purposes, are dead in life. Zombies.
Like all viruses, a mutation is expected and the scientific Jade Wesker (played by Forspoken star Ella Balinska) is waiting for it to manifest in the zero’s imminently: the same evil that destroys the brains of humans and turns animals into ultraviolent colossi has been evolving for years and it is a matter of time before its hosts develop a way of communicating and a kind of chain of command of their own.
understand the process of evolution of zero’s It will be vital for the survival of humanity. Getting ahead of Umbrella in this field is also a priority if you want to build a better world. Jade knows this very well because she has lived half her life under her umbrella. Or, rather, sharing a roof and a table with Albert Weskerhis father.
It’s 2022. Jade and Billie Wesker just moved to New Raccoon City, in South Africa, and they both have it terrible. Beyond the dramas of any 17-year-old, the twin sisters have trouble fitting in at school and for different reasons. Especially since, removing the fact of sharing a father, they have little to do with each other.
Beyond the fact that one is African-American and the other has exotic Eurasian features, the personality of each one is the opposite of her twin: the teen jade (Tamara Smart) is reckless and outspoken; while Billie Wesker (Siena Agudong) is more reserved and cautious. And yet, the two are difficult to understand for her single father overwhelmed at home and at work. Basically, that’s the Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick) that raises us Resident Evil, the Netflix series.
The recklessness of one and the recklessness of another will unleash a series of circumstances and uncomfortable situations for an Umbrella dedicated to creating its next star product: Happiness, a drug in the form of a pill that serves to counteract the emotional dramas of the modern world such as anxiety, depression or stress. An over-the-counter medicine that Albert Wesker is putting the finishing touches on.
Because Joy administered in excess stupefies users as if it were a powerful narcotic. In a way, it turns them into zombies. And despite being a dire side effect, the Umbrella Corporation has a lot at stake, especially after the incident in Raccoon City. Moreover, between one thing and another, to the president EvelynMarcus (Paola Nuñez) they are already coming up helpful uses to vent those side effects.
Resident Evil, the Netflix series, All wrong?
The Resident Evil series is not a disaster. The production is infinitely more careful than the last film adaptation, and its way of taking the video game fan out of what is already known and building something different is original. The problem, on the other hand, is that his risky approach is constantly held back by mediocre ideas and irregular action sequences, most of which barely leave an impact on the viewer. Mediocre is not bad, but of little value.
Go ahead that the deployment made is enormous and the acting work is above the circumstances. Ella Balinska and Lance Reddick are out there like Jade and Albert Wesker, giving it their all in the facial shots and some action sequences that appear with droppers, removing the final scene and the occasional incursion into a zombie apocalypse that, despite retaining the weight of the series, in more than half of the episodes they seem relieved to be the side story. a pity
Which, whichever way you look at it, is also a problem considering the theme of video games or what one expects to find in any work in which there are zombies involved.
Netflix should have booked those templates used to produce series like churros for another project. The missed opportunity to take advantage of Capcom’s millionaire brand makes us directly consider whether with a couple of crossovers and corrections here and there the same script could have been used to adapt The last of us, State of Decay or the umpteenth surrogate slipstream of a The Walking Dead deflated based on wear and tear. There are winks and elements distributed according to what planes, but those scenes are scarce and so extremely subtle that, in general, they fall on deaf ears.
Resident Evil is not a bad Netflix series. If it were called something else, you could enjoy it exactly the same. As an adaptation, it plays on the viewer’s expectations and prejudices to leave them suspended and in the air indefinitely while taking them to new terrain, deploying new characters and, very occasionally, unleashing waves of zombies and beasts of inordinate proportions. onscreen. Unfortunately, not enough for them to be an element that plays in their favor,
Because resident Evil, the Netflix series, wants to offer many things at the same time in those eight hours of footage except one: what gives character, identity and a reason for being to Capcom video games. Something daring, of course, but in the way in which the series has been built and assembled, They end up turning it into a mistake. At least when it comes to video games, we’re on a roll.