Zach Cregger's adaptation of Resident Evil has officially earned the highest rating for a video game movie on Rotten Tomatoes, achieving a score of 96%. This places it significantly ahead of other adaptations on the review aggregator's list of ranked video game movies.
The film's closest competitors are Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Werewolves Within, both holding 86% on the Tomatometer. Currently, only three video game movies have achieved "Certified Fresh" status, indicating they meet specific criteria for both critical reception and review volume.
Beyond the top tier, the list of positively reviewed video game movies is short. Films such as The Angry Birds Movie 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Gran Turismo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mortal Kombat II fall within the 64% to 72% range. This trend highlights the historical difficulty of adapting video games into successful films.
While some adaptations have performed well with smaller review counts, such as Exit 8 with a 91% score from 176 reviews, Cregger's Resident Evil maintains a substantial lead. Previously, video game adaptations have found greater critical success on television with series like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (100%), Arcane (100%), Fallout (93%), The Last of Us (96%), and Castlevania (94%).
The critical acclaim for Cregger's Resident Evil can be attributed to its focus on delivering a compelling film experience over strict adherence to lore. The movie effectively captures the appeal of the games by placing its protagonist through a series of escalating challenging situations. Cregger, known for directing Barbarian and Weapons, incorporates humorous nods to the source material without requiring extensive prior knowledge. The film is set to open in theaters on September 18.