Resident Evil (TV Series) Welcome to New Raccoon City (2022) User Reviews

I really wanted to enjoy this.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 4/10 · 15 July 2022]

After watching this, I felt like I was going to be in the minority for giving it a generally negative review, but I can see that most others felt the same.

For a series that's supposed to be action/horror/thriller it was so painfully slow. The way the story was told was so pedestrian, it just lacked excitement. I found all of the characters quite hard to like, and the way they cut between present and past was jarring.

On the plus side, I liked Raccoon City, I liked that futuristic imagery, the white buildings and cars, the symmetry of it, very utopian.

Some nice special effects, but on the balance, the lesser quality ones were more noticeable.

This is going to be hard work to get through. 4/10.

What?

[shughm · 4/10 · 15 July 2022]

Why would they do this? This is the most aggressively mediocre thing I've seen. Lance Reddick is too good for whatever this is...who decided Resident Evil was a high school drama about entitled teenagers?

I picked the wrong day to quit huffing glue, or something. I can't imagine why Netflix ever pulled the trigger on this one.

What a waste

[tsavechko · 5/10 · 14 July 2022]

As much as it is expensive as much it is boring and stupid. The characters, the virus break, the plot. Damn, it's not worth a watch and I'm disappointed cause I love original movie and game.

Beyond bizarre acting/directing

[bigmin · 2/10 · 15 July 2022]

I found this absolutely painful to watch.

During the scene where the main character is being chased by zombies at the start - why when she is on the floor with a zombie on top of her do the remaining zombies just stand there? Some even walk away. The acting and directing in that scene is so bad It's absolutely bizarre.

Entertaining and thrilling

[peterisschool · 7/10 · 16 July 2022]

I don't closely follow the Resident Evil games, but as a standalone piece I found this totally serviceable! The dialogue felt organic, clear character motivations, and a couple cool special effects kept me entertained. Definitely worth watching if you need a thriller fix.

Borderline amateur.

[W011y4m5 · 3/10 · 14 July 2022]

Despite boasting impressive production values & evidently recieving a sizeable investment from the production company, Netflix's new "Resident Evil" is yet another lacklustre adaptation of the source material; badly written, weirdly shot & superficially directed, it begins with a disappointingly poor debut featuring pacing issues, hammy performances, tonal & visual inconsistencies (deviating between appearing expensive one minute & embarrassingly cheap, the next), questionable editing & an unremarkable soundtrack. The VFX are occasionally decent but besides that, there's not much left to praise.

What could've been a really great, profitable sci-fi franchise for the streaming service is squandered immediately from the start & the narrative (if there even is one) is reduced to an angsty, clichéd teen drama where veganism ends the world. I kid you not. It's shockingly derivative & unimaginative. A complete waste.

Good start.

[MandalBros-5 · 6/10 · 20 July 2022]

I'm hearing so many negative reviews about this, yet I'm giving it a try. It has a non-linear screenplay. There are 2 timelines, one in 2022 and another in 2036. I liked both the timelines. Screenplay was engaging.

Yes, it has loopholes and clichéd teenage angle which I don't like, yet overall it was good. I just watched the first episode to check if it's worth watching or not. I liked it, now I'll watch rest of the episodes.

Available on Netflix.

© MandalBros.

Pretty bad

[arvidson8 · 2/10 · 23 July 2022]

The music, annoying characters and teen drama aside; why is the security at the Umbrella complex literally a simple voice recognition test? Why does Wesker, a very important Umbrella employee use such a ridiculous password as "Spock21"?

A containment leak with all the alarms and flashing red lights yet there isn't a single Umbrella employee at night, you know, in a Umbrella-owned town.

Also the Umbrella soldiers look like budget toy versions of Predators.

Decent episode

[stathisnatsaridis · 7/10 · 18 July 2022]

I am not a fan of the games, so that is propably the reason I like this episode. It is not perfect but it is watchable. And of course, as in many shows, there are mistakes. Like in the building of Umbrella corporation. The girls get in the building and they never meet a guard. Come on guys, who protect the building? While you filming this episode, none notice this?

...Details make the difference...

Not resident evil..again

[ghostlytheater · 1/10 · 15 July 2022]

Edgy,reduced to spectacle,absorbed by pop culture ,filtered out as never played a resident evil game ...as usual. Why these producers invest in these hopeless projects they don't understand is beyond me.

A different take

[znelson74-698-762239 · 10/10 · 15 July 2022]

I really enjoyed the first episode. The music, the direction and the acting is well done so far . Really hope they keep it up. People upset because it's not resident evil from the games but resident evil has had several different variations. I like just as much as the first resident Evil movie.

Has some obvious flaws, but give it a chance, it is not nearly that bad

[Ar_Pharazon_the_golden · 7/10 · 24 July 2022]

This series seems to have received some of the most severe review bombing yet, but as is alarmingly often the case, it really is not so bad.

That's not to say it's great or anything: this first episode already has at least 3 major weaknesses in the plot: a) a couple of teenagers can infiltrate a presumably high security facility using an audio clip and a stolen keycard, since there is not even a security guard present. You might argue their behaviour is also kind of stupid, but when has such a fictional calamity not been the result of someone doing something really stupid? B) in the 'present', the bad guys could first have the protagonist delivered to them by her captors and then shoot everybody, but decide to do it the other way around for absolutely no reason than to give her a chance to escape. C) the whole high school drama is very, very stretched - it serves a goal, but it is really lazy writing.

On the other hand, the dual timelines is an interesting choice, the protagonist is just fine (I don't really think I want to know what the perceived problem is supposed to be) though by no means a standout (not yet at least), and the basic concept (that in time as the virus mutates the zombies/zeros might change behaviour and become more human-like again) seems interesting, and as original an idea as you can expect in an oversaturated genre.

So all in all, a decent first episode, because let's face it, if you started watching a zombie series and got furious instantly because of some weak plot or because a character managed to unlikely escape the zombies, you were just looking for a reason. I am not really familiar with the RE lore that the series apparently disrespects or blasphemes against or whatever, and I am willing to admit that perhaps sticking closer to it might have led to better results. But with the danger of being crucified - and also of just plainly being wrong - it's just zombies (yes, I am well aware that videogames have complex lore and storylines, but still) - don't be so fanatic about it.

what is this rubbish - its supposed to be horror

[gs-subs · 1/10 · 15 July 2022]

Ok, what the hell is this ? A teen drama or a serious horror genre piece - I've answered my own question, it's just a mess, trying to mix two genres and not dealing with either, well.

The 'teen drama' is filled with cliche and makes the two girls serious annoying - no disrespect to actors, the script is amazing bad.

The 'horror' element, the grown up survivor, was much more interesting and tbh what people,who,have played the game grew up expecting - not perfect, but better.

The teen element seems to take way more focus though - sorry but that is not resident evil.

Painful to watch.

[marcteasdale · 3/10 · 15 July 2022]

Completely unlikable, obnoxious stereotypical characters.

In the "present", we see our protagonist (Jade) chased by a pack of zombies and brought to the ground, only for the ENTIRE pack to stand back and wait while one zombie tries to bite her, giving her time to activate some defenses that nuke the entire pack.

Horrendous visual effects; the horde on fire could not look more artificial.

Huge mutant bug chases her mindlessly, catches and incapacitates her only to stare at her long enough to allow her to be rescued in the nick of time and taken prisoner. She's then sold back to Umbrella (as she's a "first wave survivor" who turn up and, instead of securing their prisoner, decide to murder everyone for no reason and let her escape by jumping off a ~50ft high barricade into a massive horde of zombies. Ending on a cliff-hanger.

Time jumps between past and present were .. ok. I don't mind time skips in a show and it wasn't as jarring as it could be.

Back in time; we see Wesker & daughters: Jade is a "flirty, sassy girl", Billie is a "shy, vegan activist" that is immediately targeted and bullied. Wesker is an embarrassing dad that also happens to be a megalomaniac scientist on the sly.

They find out that Umbrella is testing on animals so they steal his phone and keycard and break into a high-tech secure Umbrella laboratory using torches to fool the facial recognition and a voicemail recording to fool the AI door security.

This is a secure facility set in 2024 and that's the extent of their security? Really?

They release an infected dog (horrible CGI) that's just kept in a box in the middle of the lab. Alarms blare and there is zero response from any kind of security while our protagonists run around being chased until Billie is bitten, ending on a second cliff-hanger.

If this is the "virus break", it's horrifically contrived and unbelievably unrealistic.

The saving grace is. Lance Reddick as Wesker; his performance is consistently good and he can pull off the dichotomy of "caring, if distracted dad" and "menacing villain monologue" better than most.

All in all; very poor show that looks and feels low-budget and contrived. We'll watch the second episode in the hopes that it improves but my expectations are low at this point.

I enjoyed it. I don't get the hate.

[megadon-68639 · 7/10 · 21 July 2022]

Decent beginning honestly. If you've never played resident evil or are a fan thats just looking for a fresh viewpoint on the series, you'll probably enjoy it. Aesthetically it has a cool style to it, and the pacing was sound. Give it a chance!

In my opinion : watch it and form your own opinion. Don't be a sheep.

What an absolute Dumpster Fire

[ryanslucas · 2/10 · 15 July 2022]

Whoever thought we wanted a CW scripted Resident Evil show should be fed to the Zero's. That being said I have to give this show a single star, because the Dad (Albert Wesker) is great, sadly he gets about 5 mins of air time.

good starting

[kkhodesoheill · 7/10 · 21 July 2022]

This episode have good starting for this season but have some problem like when jade hurt by a small thing in the start.

But number of zeros is ok and with this number netflix can make epic picturesin the series.

I don't understand what this has to do with any resident evils ?

[guganblack · 1/10 · 24 July 2022]

I feel like this is completely different movie, they just named it resident evil to get audience .

Not only it is COMPLETELY off the story, the characters are also totally off. Besides, the cheap acting is horrible. I am so sad this series carries name of Resident Evil.

Only people who might this enjoyable will probably be those who have not watched other resident evil movies, or played games. So they don't have nothing to compare.

Raccoon city High

[wilsey-22702 · 3/10 · 14 July 2022]

Looks like it received a decent budget but no substance. Nothing original. Hopefully it picks up as the series goes on. Wouldn't hurt to have a bit of humour or something light-hearted but it was just dull and boring.

Not that bad

[sindre-82057 · 8/10 · 18 July 2022]

If you look away from the games its not that bad of a tv show. If they kept the resident evil name out of the title i think it would have had a much higher rating.

Embarrassing

[ryogo2 · 1/10 · 16 July 2022]

I don't know why anyone thought they were making a good show. The only good actor is the dad and u know there killing him off. Other than his character and performance, there is not one thing to like about this episode.

All the kids are so annoying and just bad actors, this show seemed more concerned with filling diversity quoter than anything else.

Worst start to a TV series

[metcalfere · 3/10 · 14 July 2022]

Totally sick of annoying spoiled self centered brats. Could have found the most talentless actress. I will watch number 2 hoping it get better but right now I am thinking this is one and done series.

Just pathetic

[Ranzenn · 2/10 · 16 July 2022]

How in the hell 2 girls gonna enter in a high secure building? Just using voice record, but no a single guard, no face recognition, etc.? Wtf is this? Full of cliches and worse thing, looks like a teen drama series, a bullied girl trying to be cool, she's vegan and bla bla... see? This looks more a drama series than resident evil series. Wesker is the only good character until now and they didn't even give enough attention.

This isn't made for fans of Resident Evil - Fans of RE Please STAY AWAY

[bankurpile · 1/10 · 15 July 2022]

First I just want to say Resident Evil fans want Horror. Not action, not end of the world scenarios, not hordes of zombies, not high-school drama, not BIG explosions or anything like that. They want intimate survival-horror. Mystery, tension and terror.

I came into this show not expecting much. The Resident Evil films are all terrible but they are fun in their own way. I was thinking this was gonna be something like that. Instead this show so much worse... much much worse. I'm not even angry I didn't expect it to be good but its so far away from what "Resident Evil" is... which I know things like that happen as Franchises get older but this might be the worst case of all time.

I don't know what audience this was made for, but it was not made for fans of Resident Evil in any way. If I had to take a guess I'd say this was made for 13-14 year olds. It feels like it was made by people who were only exposed to Paul Anderson films. And then they said, "how can we make this, but for 8th graders?" Eh honestly the Paul Anderson films are far superior to this.

This show uses the Resident Evil name. It uses names of things from the Resident Evil universe, and it has zombies. But besides that, this show has nothing to do with Resident Evil. What it does have to do with is, high-school drama, spoiled kids, and dumb characters. Not to mention the music throughout the show sucks. This was almost certainly a show that was written before it was given the Resident Evil name. It feels like it at least.

I know that the story and plot in Resident Evil media isn't always the most believable but this show is just to much. Every single scene in this show just makes me facepalm and rub my temples. It cannot be understated just how dumb the characters are. Not even the characters just the things that happen it's just so not Resident Evil. And its all so stupid. It's just all really disappointing, just really sad. This review would fill a book if I really went into just how bad this show misses the mark. In short - everything in this show that references something from the Resident Evil universe is completely twisted and wrong. The constant jumping between past and present, it is just painful.

You know, I think it's pretty obvious how big the potential is for a real, true, intense, and horrific, yet small and intimate Resident Evil film or show. And it can be something new, it doesn't need to be stuffed full of call backs to the games. Something like Resident Evil 7 would be great for a film or show. But for w/e reason the people who make this crap just think that "bigger is better." More guns, more actors, more zombies, more callbacks, if they can shove more crap into this show, they did.

I thought the actors did alright. Maybe this show could have been better if it didn't have anything to do with "Resident Evil."

In conclusion, this show was genuinely sad. And it was painful, I just wanted it to end, just please god end. If this was released 5-10 years ago I'd probably feel pretty angry. But at this point it's hard to care you just throw your hands up and say screw it. At best this show is cringy, stale, shallow, half-baked, greedy. At worst (and its usually at its worst) is pure disrespectful, and insulting to fans of Resident Evil.

God I would love to sit in with the people who write this stuff just so I could know what they are thinking.

Lame

[Calicodreamin · 4/10 · 16 July 2022]

As far as production value goes, not bad. But acting is bland and there basically is no plot. The story jumps from past to present at will. Bad decisions galore.