I have high expectations for Zach Cregger's upcoming Resident Evil film. As a superb director and seemingly a genuine fan of the games it really feels as if he's got the vibe of Resident Evil down, demonstrated by his inclusion of little easter eggs, choice of location, and now choice to highlight a staple of the Resident Evil games: their resource management.
"I love the resource management aspect of the games and it was really important to me to bring that to the movie," Cregger says in a Reddit AMA. He loves it so much, in fact, that viewers will be able to follow the protagonist Bryan's management.
Hey r/movies - Zach Cregger here, director of the upcoming Resident Evil film, Weapons, and Barbarian. Ask Me Anything!from r/movies
"You will know how many bullets are in his gun," Cregger adds. "You will care when he misses a shot. That's one of the things that makes the games feel so intense and it translates really well into the film (in my opinion)."
One of the funniest clips I've seen from the Resident Evil film so far has to be Bryan cautiously lining up a shot at a padlock hanging from a door handle, sheepishly covering his ear with his spare hand, and then missing the shot. As someone who knows what the pain of wasting ammo in a RE game feels like, that resonated in my soul.
But it's not all just about ammo, as with any survival horror game, healing supplies are also at a premium. "I also want viewers to be keenly aware of his health as he progresses," Cregger adds. "Won't say much about that but it's another way to utilize the game mechanic that heightens the narrative engine of the movie."
I can think of several ways in which Cregger may be able to implement some health mechanics from the games. If he wants to reference earlier Resident Evil games, there could be a scene wherein Bryan is hooked up to a ECG monitor that's bright red if he's in particularly bad shape. There's obviously the classic limp that Bryan will probably do if he's hurt—although that's less of a reference to Resident Evil 4 and more of a reference to hurting your leg really bad.
Something that could look cool if done correctly could even be using screen effects on a first-person POV, which we've seen in recent games. Something like Bryan's sight having a red hue as his eyes fill with blood—it could go nicely with some loud and rapid heartbeat noises. Cregger has even previously discussed how the film will have a few first-person POV scenes.
But what I want more than anything else isn't to see Bryan blue or bloody—I want to see him try and organise an attache case like it's some twisted game of Tetris, ultimately failing to find a space for just one more bag of scraps. On the flip side, it'd be fun to see Bryan start to encounter more handgun ammo after he picks up a random silver case—I have a feeling he'll need it as well.
