A ★★★½ review of Resident Evil

First time in a long time I've seen a creature feature that is this visually and conceptually inventive. This movie knows it's about Cool Set Pieces and it delivers them. If I knew nothing about Zach Cregger and you told me he was a sketch comedian who transitioned to making high-concept horror movies I'd believe you 100% just from seeing this movie; it absolutely has that construction where individual scenes all function as a joke—sometimes explicitly funny, sometimes just a monster-movie thrill. This might be Cregger's best work, I do think I liked this more than Weapons. He's still one of the most talented directors working today at just framing shots and building action sequences with real heft to them, which matters hugely to this movie because so much of the action here could (but doesn't) feel stupid and weightless. Even the video game references feel both on point but not distracting; it's all motivated by the story, encapsulated in things like how Cregger chooses to frame a…