Key Takeaways
- Film Quality: Cregger’s adaptation of Resident Evil is considered one of the best video game adaptations ever made.
- Game References: The film is filled with Easter eggs that evoke the feeling of the original games without strictly following their plots.
- Character Inclusion: While some fans missed familiar characters, the film captures the essence of Resident Evil.
- New Era: This film signifies a new direction for video game adaptations, aiming for authenticity over direct storytelling.
With this weekend’s release of Resident Evil, the argument can be made that Cregger’s version is the greatest video game adaptation of all time. Sure, the competition isn’t exactly fierce, but it’s still an absurdly impressive feat of filmmaking. And it puts those embarrassing Milla Jovovich movies to shame. Cregger was able to show that you don’t need to adapt a video game story to make a very faithful adaptation. Hell, just look at Welcome to Raccoon City for a reason why just plugging in characters and game plot doesn’t always translate to a great movie. Or even a halfway decent one. But thankfully we’re in a new era.
I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the main complaints from game fans was the lack of characters or story beats from any of the games. But does that mean we don’t get any Resident Evil? Absolutely not. The film is absolutely littered with references to the games. But rather than the more “fan film” approach of mentioning a cop named Redfield or a mansion out in the woods, this is really going for the feeling of the games. Cregger said on the promotional tour that he wanted to evoke the same feeling you get when playing the game versus direct story beats. And he absolutely nailed it. I know when I left the theater, my first thought was: I wish that were a game because I’d love to play it.
So whether you’re a fan of the franchise or who enjoyed the movie and wants to know more: here are all the Resident Evil Easter Eggs.
Spoilers ahead.
Raccoon City
We don’t get many recognizable names, but obviously, if you’re going to feature a city in a Resident Evil movie, you pick Raccoon City. While the first game took place out in a remote farmhouse, the second game gave us zombie mayhem in the metropolitan city. And it was awesome. To see how much this city is thrown into chaos in such a short amount of time is a terrifying reminder of the fragility of society. I also like the idea Leon and Claire are off dealing with their RE2 shenanigans during the course of this story. Almost feels like if Bryan had gone to the police station, he’d have found them.
Umbrella Corporation
The evil corporation behind the outbreak has become a very large global operation in the games, which the Paul WS Anderson films really lean into. But I appreciated how much information we don’t actually know about Umbrella in the film. Zach Cherry and Paul Walter Hauser are employees of the company, having worked on the T Virus itself (though it’s not mentioned by name), but we don’t get all the company lore that has gotten pretty convoluted in the games. They’re simply an evil corporation, which is very relevant to 2026.
Progression of Weapons
One basic element of any game is the idea of getting stronger and stronger as you progress. Resident Evil often represents that by providing the player more advanced weapons as the game goes on. You may get a machine gun at some point, but you sure as hell aren’t starting with it. Bryan starts unarmed, then gets a pistol, a shotgun, then a machine gun. Just like the games, ammunition is also extremely limited and can be found in the most random of places (who keeps shells in their underwear drawer?!). It’s just too bad he never comes across a rocket launcher with unlimited ammo. Probably would have resulted in a different outcome.
Typewriter
In the games, Typewriters serve as Save Points for the player. They tend to be safe zones that the player can rest in unless you’re playing 3 where typewriters exist out of safe zones because “Fuck you, Nemesis.” We get to see a typewriter in the farmhouse that Bryan explores in the beginning. If only he’d stayed in that room to get a little bit of rest. Instead, his avoidance of the room altogether signals to the viewer that this many isn’t going to have a break.
Clocks
During that same farm sequence, we hear the familiar sound of a cuckoo clock. Various clocks were regularly used throughout the franchise as elements of puzzles or secret passageways. These have been featured in nearly every game of the series.
Undead Dogs
When Bryan first enters the farm property and a dog starts pursuing him, it just feels like a dog protecting its property. Bryan just barely escaping it, only for its head to burst through the barn wall, is one of the best scares of the film. To then have its head split apart and reveal the tendrils beneath is a great way to steadily ramp things up. As seen in the Paul WS Anderson films, these dogs tend to be Dobermans, though the one in the film seems to be a mutt, which is pretty appropriate for a farm dog.
Tendrils
The T-Virus goes unnamed in the film, but there’s no doubt that it’s the culprit behind all these monsters. Resident Evil 4 amped up regular shambling zombies by giving them these tendrils. So you’d do the usual process of shooting off their head, expecting them to die, only for tendrils to pop out and continue pursuit. The tendrils themselves are a great way to ramp up threat even further from standard shamblers. In fact, all many varieties of zombies are a big reason that this feels like proper Resident Evil rather than just another random zombie film.
Locks
One of my favorite running gags in the film is Bryan coming across different locks blocking his path. He tries to shoot them yet they’re too heavy duty. I can’t count how many times I’ve come across similar scenarios in an RE game only to think to myself “why can’t I use this gun to just shoot the lock?” Well, apparently I think like Bryan. It’s made even better by fact that on outdoor gate in particular you can actually see a small diamond which we also then see on key when he finds it meaning they’re a match.
The Puker
I still remember playing Resident Evil 7 for first time and coming across these fat bastards using projectile acid vomit as weapon. It’s similar to zombie from Left4Dead that I always hated so there was familiarity there. Also known as Fat Mold this monster belches and is genuinely disgusting. In film it pukes down on elevator that holds Bryan dissolving it into little pieces. But it also proves quite handy as Bryan uses it to puke on his pursuer buying him some time.
Revenant
This creature that stitches itself together using other bodies was first introduced in Resident Evil Revelations 2. In fact at this point it’s monster’s only appearance which just makes fact that it’s featured here all better. The amalgamation of bodies is Society-like in its look and can feature some genuinely disturbing visuals which leads me to…
Stalking Villain
There is nothing that gets my anxiety going more than having character relentlessly pursue you in video game . The fact that I can just be minding my own business picking up green herb only for Nemesis smash through wall and try turn me into human paste is reason I don’t play Resident Evil 3 very much . From Tyrant Nemesis Lady Dimitrescu all love make your life living hell . So it’s awesome have Revenant pursuing Bryan throughout film . Anytime there’s moment breathe he looks around sees it coming after him relentless .
I absolutely loved my time with Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil . I had just resigned fact we’d never receive good film and was just trying focus on video games which have never let me down ( I’ll just ignore 6 ) . So getting such high-quality film feels like pure treat for this Resident Evil fan .
What was your favorite callback games? Is there something I missed? Let me know comments below!
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