‘Resident Evil’ Review: Netflix Series Is a Confusing, YA-Tinged Letdown

thewrap.com:

“Resident Evil” live-action film based on the zombie horror video game dropped in theaters. Although director Paul W.S. Anderson’s adaptation featuring Milla Jovovich was entertaining enough to garner a sequel (and another one, and another one, and many more after that), the film barely touched the original storyline and underwhelmed gamers and critics alike.

20 years, seven live-action movies, and about 12 games later, Netflix’s “Resident Evil” series is here to disappoint jaded fans yet again.Created by Andrew Dabb (“Supernatural”), this new eight-episode Netflix series focuses on fraternal twins Jade and Billie Wesker, the daughters of scientist and Umbrella Corporation scientist Albert Wesker.

The previous movies, including the recent “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,” were action-horror spectacles. But this “Resident Evil” series feels like a YA time-hopping genre mystery unfolding across two timelines.Part of the story takes place in 2036 after a new zombie apocalypse, and the other in the “past” of 2022, just a few years after Umbrella Corporation bombed the original Raccoon City.

A last-ditch effort to stem the tide of those infected with the Tyrant Virus (T-Virus), a dangerous drug for curing dead cells, repurposed as a bioweapon.Whether you have extensive knowledge of “Resident Evil” lore or know nothing about the franchise, the series suffers from a meandering script, gaping plot holes and muddled execution.The series starts in 2036, following adult Jade (Ella Balinska), a young researcher and mother who works for The University, an organization dedicated to preserving humanity’s history in the face of possible annihilation.