The “Resident Evil” franchise celebrates 30 years while expanding games into film. With three major live-action adaptations, a discussion of how they compare to “Resident Evil 2” may arise.
“Resident Evil 2” is a zombie game that takes place in the fictional city Racoon City, where the pharmaceutical company Umbrella “accidentally” releases a virus that affects the entire city. The main protagonist, Leon S. Kennedy, is a rookie cop showing up to his first day of work. Claire Redfield is searching for her brother, and both Kennedy and Redfield must find a way to escape.
The 2002 Paul W.S. Anderson version of “Resident Evil” was the first adaptation of the series. The movie was structured around “Resident Evil 2,” with story parts also from the first game and “Resident Evil 3.”
Even though the 2002 movie was structured around “Resident Evil 2,” Anderson took the film in a unique direction with an entirely new character named Alice, disregarding Leon and Claire. The story also revolves around the Umbrella facility rather than Racoon City itself, leaving many fans torn.
Some university students stated that the 2002 film “strayed too far away from the games.” Regardless of the connection, Anderson’s film still brought fans into theaters, grossing $103 million worldwide on a $33 million budget.
The movie had flaws as well, but the product would not only pave the way of modern video game adaptations, but would spark a series within “Resident Evil,” with Anderson releasing several more films.
“Welcome to Racoon City,” directed by Johannes Roberts, is the second major movie adaptation of “Resident Evil,” heavily following the “Resident Evil 2” game. Unfortunately, the movie faced an uphill battle from the start.
Coming out in 2021, shortly after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie was already slated to release at a difficult time for the movie industry. On top of that, the movie had to compete with the “Resident Evil” games themselves. The movie wasn’t good enough to stand on its own as a horror movie, nor could it compete with the games it was trying to adapt.
Another major issue was the movie’s production flaws, from its computer-generated imagery to its overall visual presentation, making it visually weaker than the 2002 film.
Finally, the latest movie adaptation, Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” (2026) is unique. Instead of the movie being a loose adaptation of “Resident Evil 2,” it creates a separate story that parallels “Resident Evil 2,” almost like what “Resident Evil 3” the game was.
It’s also interesting in the sense that “Resident Evil Requiem,” the latest game in the franchise, does a similar thing. Cregger mentioned that he wanted to bring back the horror element of “Resident Evil 2” with limited spaces and resources and bring that perspective to real life, similar to his previous film, “Weapons.”
The movie also does a good job of being different enough to draw in a casual audience who comes into the movie having little to no knowledge of the games. University student Eli Angelis said, “the movie really did a great job at balancing being an adaptation and a movie, feeling as if the story pairs up with ‘Resident Evil 2,’ despite it being from an entirely different universe.” This hammers home the point of the movie being a complementary piece to “Resident Evil 2,” like “Resident Evil 3” was, while also being a good standalone film.
Despite whether or not “Resident Evil” (2026) lives up to the hype, two things are certain: first, “Resident Evil 2” is arguably one of the most influential horror games ever made, and second, no matter whether you’re a gamer or just a casual fan, Capcom, the “Resident Evil” series’ game developers, and Cregger are having a good year. With the release of “Resident Evil: Requiem” and the “Resident Evil: Veronica” remake scheduled for early 2027, the new “Resident Evil” movie is just another piece of entertainment that can be on your plate this fall season.
