Reviews for Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” have been pretty great, but one common theme across all of them is that the film’s strongest section is its first hour.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR “RESIDENT EVIL”
The film has been a non-stop ride almost from the get-go and finally takes its only real break when it stops to let Austin Abrams’ Bryan record a personal message.
After that, the tonal disparity between the film’s seriously dark and twisted moments and its outright wildly comedic moments becomes more obvious and extreme – which some find jarring.
Then comes the ending, which opts for a darker and ultimately kind of tragic one. That ending has caused some debate around the film, but Abrams tells THR he’s really happy that Cregger opted to go with the gutsy choice:
“I’ve been living with it for a while now, but I thought it was crazy and shocking when I first read it. I love that Zach takes those risks. You follow this one guy the whole time, so hopefully you’re enjoying watching him and rooting for him. Then to have him not make it is really risky and gutsy, which is what I love about all of Zach’s work. So I was surprised by it, but I also loved that he would take that chance.
With a lot of movies nowadays, they’re a little too afraid to do something like that – to kill off a character you really like. And if they do, the blow is softened in some way so it doesn’t hurt too much. Whereas a lot of older films don’t do that; they just rip your heart out. We’re here to feel, man. We’re here to go through something. So I’m just appreciative that Zach is willing to take a risk like that.”
The film made just over $61 million domestically and nearly $110 million worldwide in its opening weekend, that domestic number outgrossing the total grosses of each “Resident Evil” film that came before.
