It seems like the latest Resident Evil adaptation is living up to the standard of letting down fans of the franchise, but Netflix's brand new series may have taken that to the next level, as over the weekend it amassed some of the worst reviews ever received by any production releasing on the streaming service.
This Resident Evil adaptation stars Lance Reddick as Albert Wesker and twins Jade and Billie Wesker (played by Ella Balinska and Adelina Rudolph), featuring a dual timeline set in 2022 and 2036, with the latter depicting the typical zombie apocalypse scenario. Now if this doesn’t really sound like classic Resident Evil, then that’s exactly why thousands of fans all over the world are voicing their displeasure with the show and why this could very well be an all-time low when it comes to video game adaptations or just content altogether.
At the time of writing, Netflix's Resident Evil holds a worrisome 51% critics' score on Rotten Tomaties along with an even worse audience rating of 25%, and it’s not like the overall perception is much different elsewhere. Over on, IMDB this Resident Evil is rated as 3.6 out of 10. All of these ratings are far lower than last year’s Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, an animated Netflix production, or Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which at least got a somewhat positive audience reception due to its relative faithfulness to source material from Capcom's games.
As for why exactly the series is being so criticized, it goes far beyond detachment from the games, as there are simply a lot of things that don’t make sense in Resident Evil. Most people suggest the show has very little to offer when it comes to storytelling, thus cementing the long-sustained tradition of this particular video game getting poorly adapted works. Suffice to say, there might be no need to try to fit this show into the Resident Evil canon.
The early failure of Resident Evil all but kills any possibility that the series will get another season after the initial 8-episode order, especially considering Netflix's trigger-happy approach to canceling shows, even those that do well. This blunder also separates Resident Evil from Netflix's recent success with video game properties such as Castlevania, The Witcher, and Arcane, all of which have received tons of praise and subsequently gotten more seasons or spinoffs to capitalize on their popularity.
Netflix's Resident Evil appeared doomed from the start, with many fans criticizing the evident lack of connection to the games and Albert Wesker's race-swapped casting, as many believed the latter partly removed the eugenics narrative that is so intrinsic to the infamous villain, which coupled with the show's own faults else will probably see it be forgotten quite soon.
Resident Evil is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes