I know, I know that I’m in the minority regarding my feelings about Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil. As I write this, the movie is sitting at a 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. We’ll be posting our review of the film later today over at The Horror Lounge, and I suspect my views about the film will differ from our critic covering it. My main gripe with it is that the comedy constnatly undercuts the horror.

To preface all of this, let me stay I’m not a devotee of the games. The only Resident Evil games I’ve played are the first two, many, many years ago for the PlayStation, so I can’t comment upon whatever Easter eggs may be in the film or how much it differs from the games. That said, this movie is a standalone story starring Austin Abrams as everyman Bryan, a medical courier at a crossroads, and by that, I mean his girlfriend is pregnant and they’re unsure if they should keep the baby or not. This point adds some weight to the film, though it’s not fully explored and Bryan largely relays his feelings about being a dad through phone calls. It doesn’t take long until he’s sent on a delivery to Racoon City, just as the outbreak begins.

To the film’s credit, it resembles how playing a Resident Evil game feels, and by that, I mean that you’re put in Bryan’s shoes throughout the lean 90-minute runtime. There are even shots that feel and look like a first-person shooter, especially the first time Bryan encounters a zombie woman on the road, during the snowy drive to the infected city. There’s also some gorgeous nighttime cinematography and a few tense moments. Additionally, Bryan is a relatable character, and Abrams gives a breakout performance. He’s a character dropped into a situation much, much larger than himself. All he wants to do is deliver the medical package and return to his girlfriend.

The film has positives for sure, but it very much feels like a horror movie that you can get in and get out of, a fun popcorn flick without much heft or weight. I don’t know what I was expecting, but by how much people have been raving about this movie, I felt I deserved more. Maybe there’s just natural hype built up for Zach Cregger after Weapons‘ Oscar success. Compared to that film and Cregger’s first movie, the stellar Barbarian, Resident Evil feels like a step down, a film light on characterization and with way, way too many jokes that constantly undercut the horror. Sure Bryan is funny as hell, and he’s so relatable because he’s NOT a character from the game or a hero. Some of us would probably react to the snarling mutant dogs, zombies, and goopy messes the way that he does, in shock, while cracking a joke or two. That said, this film has so many jokes that it deflates the scares, and yes, I know Cregger comes from a comedy background, but with his other films, he struck the right balance. That’s just not the case here. It’s surprising that Cregger admitted recently he cut jokes out of the film, when the theatrical version feels like a non-stop punchline at the end of the world.

I don’t want to disparage anyone’s hype for Resident Evil. It’s a goopy blast at times, and a hell of a lot of fun to see with a crowd in the theater, but beyond that, there’s not much about it that resonates or sticks in the memory, unlike Barbarian or Weapons, which felt innovative, while nodding to Cregger’s clear horror influences. Additionally, the director’s previous films had jokes, but they didn’t stifle the horror.

If you saw Resident Evil, what did you think?