Resident Evil, like the Fast and Furious and Insidious franchises, offer fun action-packed entertainment without much thinking required. They won’t win any Oscars and are guilty pleasure action movies with eye-candy characters kicking zombie butt in post-apocalyptic settings.

The Resident Evil movies are immune to low critical scores due to consistently making a profit. All the live-action films have Rotten Tomatoes scores of under 40% but consistently perform well at the box office due to their winning formula. Writer and producer, Paul W.S. Anderson, serves up simple plots involving over-the-top zombie mayhem, while his wife, Milla Jovovich, carries the series as the protagonist, Alice, on a quest for revenge against the Umbrella Corporation. Catch up on the Resident Evil movies before the latest installment drops later this month.

Resident Evil (2002)

The one that started it all

2002’s Resident Evil kicked off the franchise. The deadly T-Virus is released in The Umbrella Corporation’s secret underground research facility called The Hive. Mila Jovovich’s Alice must team up with a group of commandos to investigate what happened. They must take on the facilities AI that’s intent on keeping everything sealed, while battling zombies and learning the truth about their mission.

Resident Evil might be made up of parts from other movies, but it does enough to stand out. Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez make a formidable action team, and we also get memorable set pieces like the laser security system and unforgettable zombie dogs.

Release Date

March 15, 2002

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

Paul W. S. Anderson

Cast

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  Michelle Rodriguez

  Rain Ocampo

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  James Purefoy

  Spence Parks

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Escape from Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Apocalypse picks up where the first movie left off and the contamination from The Hive has now spread to Raccoon City. The Umbrella Corporation has quarantined the city, and it’s up to the survivors to fend for themselves against hordes of zombies. Meanwhile, Alice wakes up in a deserted hospital and bands together with the survivors to find a way to escape.

The Umbrella Corporation thinks it’s the perfect time to test its Nemesis super soldier and releases it onto the chaotic streets. Alice and her band of survivors must fight their way across the city and find a way out before the Umbrella Corporation detonates a nuclear warhead. Resident Evil: Apocalypse has a bigger scale and more action than the previous installment. It’s cheesy fun with Alice coming into her own as a badass killing machine.

Release Date

September 10, 2004

Runtime

94 minutes

Director

Alexander Witt

Cast

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  Sienna Guillory

  Jill Valentine

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  Thomas Kretschmann

  Major Cain

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Mad Max with zombies

Resident Evil:Extinction is set five years after the events of Apocalypse in a post-apocalyptic future where the zombies have taken over. Alice now rides across the wasteland trying to survive. Her friends from the previous movie travel in a convoy, scavenging supplies and equipment. Alice used her telekinetic powers to save them from an onslaught of infected crows.

The Umbrella Corporation detects her and sends a team of enhanced zombies to retrieve her. Alice and her friends defeat the zombies and find the location of Umbrella’s base. Alice must infiltrate the base and discover the truth about the virus and the reason why the corporation has been making clones of her.

Resident Evil:Extinction has a simple plot and familiar tropes. It still keeps things fresh with a new Mad Max-meets-zombies setting and more carnage than ever.

Release Date

September 20, 2007

Runtime

94 minutes

Director

Russell Mulcahy

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  Ali Larter

  Claire Redfield

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Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)

A scary animated adventure

The animated Resident Evil movies, like 2008’s Degeneration, are part of the game canon and usually have higher critics’ scores than their live-action counterparts. Degeneration takes place seven years after the Raccoon City outbreak. An infected passenger causes a zombie outbreak at the airport, which is then locked down. Claire Redfield and other survivors are trapped in the airport and Leon S. Kennedy and his team come to rescue them.

Meanwhile, a terrorist organization threatens to spread the virus around the country. Claire and Leon and his team must get to the bottom of who’s responsible for spreading the T-Virus and its relationship to the G-Virus developed by WilPharma.

Resident Evil: Degeneration has dated graphics, but captures the games’ mood and tone. It serves up a decent zombie adventure with enough horror and action to satisfy long-time fans.

Release Date

February 13, 2008

Runtime

97 minutes

Director

Makoto Kamiya

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  Alyson Court

  Claire Redfield (voice)

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  Paul Mercier

  Leon S. Kennedy (voice)

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  Laura Bailey

  Angela Miller (voice)

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  Roger Craig Smith

  Curtis Miller (voice)

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

Attack of the clones

Resident Evil: Afterlife switches things up with Alice taking the fight to the Umbrella Corporation. She’s out for revenge and attacks their Tokyo base with her team of clones. The big boss, Wesker, tries to escape, but the original Alice boards his plane to stop him. He injects her with a serum which suppresses her powers and the plane crashes.

Months later, Alice flies around looking for her friends and a safe haven called Arcadia that’s broadcasting radio messages. Alice finds her old friend Claire Redwood, who has amnesia, and the two of them fly to a Los Angeles that’s besieged by zombies. They team up with a group of survivors trapped in a prison also trying to find Arcadia.

The group survives a zombie attack and make it to Arcadia which isn’t the haven they think it is. Alice must face off against Wesker and the Umbrella Corporation and transform Arcadia into the haven it should be.

Resident Evil: Afterlife has an unmemorable, convoluted plot and dodgy CGI. It’s still fun watching multiple Alices destroy an entire base and blasting zombies with a pair of saw-off shotguns.

Release Date

September 1, 2010

Runtime

97 minutes

Director

Paul W. S. Anderson

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  Wentworth Miller

  Chris Redfield

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  Ali Larter

  Claire Redfield

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Evil: Retribution (2012)

Escape the base to survive

Resident Evil:Retribution kicks off where Afterlife ended. Alice and the survivors on Arcadia are attacked and captured by the Umbrella Corporation, led by her former friend, Jill Valentine, who now has amnesia. They’re taken to an underground base where Alice is imprisoned.

Alice tries to escape the base after a computer malfunction and discovers that Wesker no longer works for the Umbrella Corporation and needs her help to stop them. She must fight her way through simulations of different cities and the Red Queen AI to get out of the base.

Resident Evil:Retribution’s simulation plot line is an excuse for Alice to fight baddies in different locations. There’s no shortage of action set pieces which get increasingly ridiculous. It’s still entertaining for those looking for action rather than plot while they watch a world descend into chaos.

Release Date

September 12, 2012

Runtime

95 minutes

Director

Paul W. S. Anderson

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  Sienna Guillory

  Jill Valentine

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  Michelle Rodriguez

  Rain Ocampo

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Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)

A civil war with zombies

Resident Evil: Damnation takes place in an alternative 2011. Leon S. Kennedy is investigating the use of Bio Organic Weapons (BOWs) in a Slavic country’s civil war. Meanwhile, Ada Wong has discovered there’s a way for some infected creatures to control others if they’re injected with the dominant parasite.

The pair get caught up in a brutal civil war in which the freedom fighters are controlling lickers at a huge personal cost to themselves, while the corrupt government has giant Tyrants on their side. Both sides take heavy losses in a brutal war that culminates in an epic battle on the street.

Resident Evil: Damnation is one of the best films in the series. The unique setting is a welcome break from Raccoon City and the ability to control infected creatures adds a new twist. It also has a tight plot, amazing action, and believable conflict between the characters.

Release Date

September 25, 2012

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

Makoto Kamiya

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  Courtenay Taylor

  Ada Wong (voice)

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  Matthew Mercer

  Leon S. Kennedy (voice)

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  Robin Sachs

  Ataman / Ivan Judanovich (voice)

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  Dave Wittenberg

  Buddy / Alexander ‘Sasha’ Kozachenko (voice)

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

A satisfying finale

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter starts with Alice fighting a giant flying zombie in a destroyed Washington DC. She’s recruited by the Red Queen AI to save the human race. Alice must infiltrate The Hive and find the antivirus within 48 hours. Alice travels across the country and is captured by her former nemesis, Dr Isaacs, who’s also on his way to Racoon City.

She escapes and teams up with old friends to beat Dr Isaacs and infiltrate The Hive. It becomes a race against time as they must find a way to release the antivirus and destroy the Umbrella Corporation once and for all. There are many unexpected twists along the way, and they eventually discover the truth about the T-Virus outbreak and Alice’s origins.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter goes bigger in terms of spectacle with giant bats and other types of zombies for the team to fight. By now, everyone knows what to expect, and it’s a series of action set pieces loosely connected by something resembling a plot. The movie still goes out with a bang and provides a satisfying conclusion to a saga spanning six films over fourteen years.

Release Date

December 23, 2016

Runtime

107 minutes

Director

Paul W. S. Anderson

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  Ali Larter

  Claire Redfield

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  Shawn Roberts

  Albert Wesker

Resident Evil: Vendetta (2017)

A city-wide infection

Resident Evil: Vendetta follows agents, Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy as they track down a former operative turned bioterrorist. Chris and his team are attacked by zombies during a raid on a house in Mexico. They discover the terrorist is experimenting on humans and has created a new A-Virus that creates zombies who are loyal to their hosts.

The terrorist unleashes the virus in New York and it infects the population. Chris and Leon must battle the infected population and find a way to infiltrate the terrorist’s base to stop him. They’ll also need to find a way to distribute a new vaccine to save the city.

Resident Evil: Vendetta treads familiar ground with a formulaic plot we’ve seen before. It’s also slower and clunkier than the previous animated installments. That said, things kick off in the final act, which provides non-stop action with Leon and Chris fighting hordes of zombies together.

Release Date

May 27, 2017

Runtime

97 minutes

Director

Takanori Tsujimoto

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  Kevin Dorman

  Chris Redfield (voice)

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  Matthew Mercer

  Leon S. Kennedy (voice)

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  Erin Cahill

  Rebecca Chambers (voice) / Rebecca Chambers (motion capture)

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  John DeMita

  Glenn Arias (voice)

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

A self-contained reboot

2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a franchise reboot that delves into the origins of the T-Virus. Claire Redfield hitches a ride into Raccoon City with a trucker and his dog. They hit a woman on the road who mysteriously disappears, and the dog licks the blood on the road.

Her brother, Chis, and his team must investigate a secluded mansion after the previous team disappears. Hell breaks loose when the now-infected truck driver crashes his vehicle into the police station. It turns out that many townspeople have become infected, and the Umbrella Corporation has quietly locked down the town. Claire, Chris, and the remaining survivors must find a way out of town before the corporation destroys it.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a more faithful adaptation of the games than the previous movies. It’s also a smaller and more low-key affair with all the events taking place over a single night. The massive CGI set pieces are replaced by a creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere and jump scares.

Release Date

November 24, 2021

Runtime

107 minutes

Director

Johannes Roberts

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  Kaya Scodelario

  Claire Redfield

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  Hannah John-Kamen

  Jill Valentine

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  Robbie Amell

  Chris Redfield

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Resident Evil: Death Island (2023)

Zombies on Alcatraz

Resident Evil: Death Island brings everyone’s favorite characters together for a final showdown. People in San Francisco are being infected with a new strain of the T-Virus which seems to be injected into them. The new strain doesn’t turn them into zombies immediately and lies dormant for a time.

Claire and Chris Redfield, along with Jill, head to Alcatra Island to look for answers. It’s a trap, and they must battle zombies to get to a new terrorist intent on spreading the virus across the world.

Resident Evil: Death Island stands out with amazing visual effects and action scenes. Alcatraz provides the perfect backdrop as a contained environment with no escape. The movie isn’t perfect, but it is worth watching to see the game’s major characters all working together to battle the virus.

Release Date

June 22, 2023

Runtime

91 minutes

Director

Eiichiro Hasumi

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  Matthew Mercer

  Leon Scott Kennedy (voice)

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  Nicole Tompkins

  Jill Valentine (voice)

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  Kevin Dorman

  Chris Redfield (voice)

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  Stephanie Panisello

  Claire Redfield (voice)

Resident Evil (2026)

The latest installment

Resident Evil 2026 is yet another franchise reboot, this time directed by Zach Greggor of The Barbarian and Weapons fame. All we know so far is that the new movie will be about a medical courier making a delivery at the Raccoon City Hospital. There’s a virus outbreak, and he must find a way to survive.

The new Resident Evil drops in the US on September 18, 2026.

Release Date

September 18, 2026

Runtime

90 Minutes

Director

Zach Cregger