Why the Resident Evil Netflix live action is so bad

If you’ve been on social media lately, chances are you’ll have noticed posts describing how bad the Resident Evil Netflix adaptation is. While the franchise has been on a winning streak in terms of their video games like Resident Evil 7, Village and the Remakes, fans are no stranger to the series’ shoddy films and shows.

However, it really does seem that the recently released live action series is taking the series to an all-time low. The Netflix series is sitting at an audience score of 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest audience-scored Resident Evil film/TV series to date, but why exactly is it so bad?

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ZOOTOPIA PORN IS CANON IN THE RESIDENT EVIL UNIVERSE

U HEARD IT HERE FIRST FOLKS pic.twitter.com/Gl5c6cjwYI
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— Ramges Jeyes (@Reyesynthesis) July 14, 2022

“Wait…what?”

While the series does have its good moments and some questionable creative choices, the biggest backlash is largely fueled by its writing. Yes, the Resident Evil games are no stranger to campy, out of place one liners like the famous “Jill Sandwich” or moments like Chris Redfield punching a boulder out of the way, but things like anime references feel completely out of place.

netflix's resident evil show name dropping clannad is the last straw for me pic.twitter.com/8G3rYfO1Zv

— ⋆ (@yoshimvra) July 16, 2022

Clannad aside, the series also brings up Deca-Dence and a horribly botched pronunciation of the torrent site Nyaa.

New Resident Evil series is too online. Kids talking about torrenting anime on "nie-uh" (nyaa)… pic.twitter.com/jae6Kwmc3B

— Aurica ㍋ (@Aurica__) July 14, 2022

As far as I can remember, there were zero or at most, barely any mentions of anime in the Resident Evil games. Thus, you can’t blame fans of the games for feeling that the Netflix series is so out of place. Then of course, we have this notorious scene—something straight out of a musical:

This is an actual scene in the new Resident Evil show: pic.twitter.com/r4OiQaYHyI

— Think Story (@ThinkStoryYT) July 15, 2022

The series would probably fare a lot better without the Resident Evil branding, simply because it adds too many elements which make people question if they’re even watching something related to Resident Evil in the first place. Sure, the Milla Jovovich Resident Evil films are over the top and also bad, but unlike the Netflix series, it actually feels like a proper zombie film. No matter how good or bad a piece of media is, if it doesn’t represent its brand, it’s bound to be disliked.

If you’re looking for a better (but still mediocre) Resident Evil series on Netflix, check out Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.