Critic Reviews

Resident Evil is a zombie caper that knows what it’s here for. And that is to fill the screen with rampaging hordes of undead and to reassure horror fans that there is life after The Walking Dead. Those boxes are ticked in dead impressive fashion.

Every scene is a cliffhanger. The end of every episode is a bigger cliffhanger. You will binge-watch like you have never binge-watched before. If it is your sort of thing in even the slightest way.

Packed with humor, heart, and some of the coolest action scenes of the year, it’s a show that will leaving you alternatively screaming at and cheering for your television. Resident Evil is simply a great time.

Resident Evil marks an ambitious new direction to start charting the next phase. Where the latest big-screen installment faltered by looking too hard in the past, Netflix’s entry finds its stride while looking to the future.

Not everything in this show clicks. The biggest problem is the character of Jade, who is, regrettably, super-annoying in both timelines. ... Most of the show works quite well, however.

As a new Resident Evil title, the series passes the test of including just enough nods to the franchise to keep longtime fans happy, while not alienating new viewers at the same time. ... The two-timeline structure, however, is the show’s weakest link. Though intended to create enough questions to keep people watching, the abrupt shifts between the present and future make it difficult to get fully invested in both storylines.

Given the six choppy hours that preceded “Resident Evil’s” rousing two-part ending, it’s hard to trust future seasons will stick with the bananas spirit Season 1 stumbled upon.

The same beats get repeated, neither timeline’s emotional journey feels all that tense, and the outbreak as a whole is far too drawn out. A zombie apocalypse stretched out over two timelines shouldn’t feel this overly labored and passé.

“Resident Evil” doesn’t reinvent the zombie wheel, as it juggles too many storylines without honing in on one vision for the series. Fans of the series of the genre may find some enjoyable moments amid this apocalyptic tale. Reddick also gives a dynamic performance as the show progresses, but his absence from scenes leaves viewers hungry for more.

Plagued by some of the most frustrating storytelling choices currently spreading throughout TV: constant jumping back and forth across a split timeline; “strong female characters” who often lack interiority; a padded episode count that causes the narrative to sag in the middle. When Resident Evil attempts to be serious, hard-edged sci-fi (which is often), it’s indistinguishable from all the other zombie-related content out there.