I'll probably pick this up when it inevitably goes in one of those 2 for £20 deals online.
I cannot understand how they keep messing up game to film adaptations like this. The original Resident Evil movie while nothing like the game, was at least entertaining in an early 2000's kinda way. The sequels just went further and further down a rabbit hole to become something completely different.
This version, while closer in look and story to the game comes across like a low budget, fan made project with amateur actors. From what I gather the script is really poor too.
There was an episode of The Walking Dead from season 9 called 'Evolution' where the group get cornered in a cemetery on a misty night surrounded by walkers and whisperers, not knowing which was which. That episode had so much tension and atmosphere, it was like a scene from like RE: Code Veronica brought to life and it was terrifying, exactly how zombie horror should be.
Silent Hill did manage to retain the oppressive look and feel of the game and is probably one of the better film adaptations, it's just so bleak.
I think the way to make Resident Evil work on film is to take the characters, story and plot and transpose that into a real world setting, rather than a fictional one. Make the whole thing more grounded and believable to begin with, with more realistic versions of the characters. Sure there would have to be some changes but I think Marvel took the same approach when adapting comic book characters for the big screen.
Then when it gets to the horror element it will feel more real. These are real people in unreal situations, something The Walking Dead has mostly done well and also Black Summer too.