A documentary that brings to light the vision that director George A. Romero had for an adaptation of Resident Evil, using newly filmed interviews with those who were there, and unravels the secrets behind why it was never produced.
Director: Brandon Salisbury
Cast: George A. Romero, James Rolfe, Charlie Kraslavsky, Pat Jankiewicz, Eric Pirius, Pablo Kuntz, Michael Felsher, Jim Krut, Matthew Blazi
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Genre: Documentary
Not Rated
Runtime: 1h 50m
Review:
Brandon Salisbury's George A. Romero's Resident Evil documentary works as a retrospective of both the Resident Evil video game franchise and Romero's career and his far-reaching impact. Salisbury's approach is rather methodical but informative as he tracks the rise of the Resident Evil video game franchise and its ultimate intersection with its uncredited godfather in the form of George A. Romero. It’s a fascinating behind the scenes tale of what should have been a match made in heaven before falling apart for a variety of reasons. Salisbury uses archival documents from Romero's estate to give us an insight into what he was attempting to deliver had he been given the reins of this cinematic adaptation. The retrospectives of the game and Romero himself that begins the documentary are rather dry as it covers fairly well-known information about both and their rise to prominence. Once we reach the singular moment where both entities come together serves as the most intriguing portion of the film's two-hour runtime. There's a solid sense of Romero's mindset as he sees the chance to help with the adaptation of the video game which borrowed so much from his legendary films as a way to take back some sort of agency of his ideas. The documentary does a solid job of leading us along the journey as his adaptation slowly begins to fall apart due to corporate interference. We're given a window into his bitterness after the project collapses, especially once the zombie genre takes off in the subsequent years. George A. Romero's Resident Evil ends on a bit of a somber note as it tracks the latter half of his career and ultimately his death in 2017 with heartfelt remembrance and longing for his Resident Evil film that never came to be.
B-
