After a well-liked video game, seven live-action films, and a revival only last year, "Resident Evil" makes the ominous transition to Netflix as a very depressing series. It's not especially interesting in either time period as it develops in the present and the future; rather, it feels more like an uninspired variation of what has gone before than an evolution.
Jade Wesker, a scientist fighting for survival in 2036, is portrayed in the program by Ella Balinska (the 2019 version of "Charlie's Angels") and is accompanied by a cast of characters who lack any motivation to care about escaping computer-generated monsters.
Before the tale starts switching back and forth between what happened then in Raccoon City, or far back in 2022, and the monster-filled world as it exists for her grown-up self, she adds somberly at the beginning, "The world ended a long time ago."
Unfortunately, the past mostly resembles yet another teen-focused show, mixing high-school-related problems for Jade (played at that age by Tamara Smart) and her half-sister Billie (Siena Agudong) with strange events at the Umbrella Corp. facility where their father, Lance Reddick of "The Wire," works.
The issue of how the lethal virus released there has led to the opulent hell in which the adult Jade finds herself is being teased out too slowly at first, before picking up steam and adding some unexpected twists. Nothing good ever occurs in this kind of lab. Not that there's much of a need to fret the small print or stress out about anybody else's future but her.
Although "Resident Evil" has a devoted fan base, everything about the show as it is currently put together feels generic, from the teen angst in that portion of the plot to the odd operative (Turlough Convery) on Jade's trail to the hideous threats that the virus has spawned that seems to have been pieced together using leftovers from other horror films.
Considering the writing's limitations, Balinska is a respectable lead, as Milla Jovovich can undoubtedly verify after her half-dozen action-packed appearances. Although the creators deserve respect for experimenting with the source material, this is one of those ideas that act as if obtaining the right to use the "Resident Evil" moniker was more than enough to win.
That could be accurate only in terms of Netflix's efforts to engage its audience. However, this most recent adaption shows that all objectives outside branding and business also stopped a long time ago, much like the pre-virus society Jade mentions.
"Resident Evil" premieres July 14 on Netflix.
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