It is official: Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil film has been crowned the highest-rated video game adaptation in history, currently sitting at a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The achievement places the horror movie comfortably ahead of every other screen adaptation based on a video game franchise, cementing its status as a landmark moment for an industry long criticized for its cinematic track record.
The film’s critical standing is even more remarkable when viewed against the broader landscape of video game movies. According to Rotten Tomatoes’ Video Game Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer list, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 lands in second place at 86%, with Werewolves Within third at the same percentage. The gap between first and second is substantial enough that few other titles even come close to challenging Cregger’s film.
A Short List of Success
The Rotten Tomatoes data reveals just how narrow the path to critical approval runs for video game adaptations. Beyond the top three entries, only six more video game movies on the list carry positive Tomatometer scores: The Angry Birds Movie 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Gran Turismo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mortal Kombat II. Their scores range from a modest 64% to 72%, underscoring how difficult it has historically been for these adaptations to win over critics.
To clarify, the Tomatometer measures the percentage of critics who gave a film a favorable review. Rotten Tomatoes’ ranking excludes titles that lack at least 20 reviews from theatrical releases, which is why the list contains only a handful of movies overall. Notably, Exit 8, an adaptation of the game bearing the same name, holds a strong 91% score with 176 reviews—yet even this impressive figure falls short of what Resident Evil has achieved.
The Television Advantage
Until now, video game adaptations have fared dramatically better on television than in theaters. Several acclaimed series have earned near-universal praise from critics, including Cyberpunk: Edgerunners at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Arcane also at 100%, Fallout at 93%, The Last of Us at 96%, Castlevania at 94%, and Nier: Automata Ver1.1a among others. These television successes have long demonstrated that the medium suits game adaptations far better than feature-length films, making Cregger’s theatrical achievement all the more notable.
The film prioritizes being a good movie over being lore-accurate, perfectly emulating the games’ appeal as its protagonist is forced into one terrible situation after another. Cregger drops in plenty of humorous homages without requiring an encyclopedic knowledge of the franchise’s history.
Zach Cregger, Director
Critics have praised the film for delivering a tightly crafted 90 minutes of gross-out sequences, tense moments, and genuine hilarity. In what many reviewers identified as a smart creative decision, the movie chooses to prioritize storytelling over strict adherence to established canon. While it does not feature familiar characters from the games, this approach appears to work in its favor, allowing audiences without deep franchise knowledge to fully engage with the material.
Cregger, who previously directed Barbarian and Weapons, has proven himself adept at blending horror with dark comedy. His ability to craft tension while weaving in accessible references has resonated strongly with critics testing the film ahead of its wider release.
Looking Ahead
The critical consensus stands in stark contrast to what general audiences may ultimately think. The film will officially open in theaters on Sept. 18, at which point broader audience reception will provide a crucial measure of whether it can connect beyond the critic community that has so enthusiastically embraced it.
As critics continue to weigh in ahead of the wide theatrical release, Resident Evil has already secured its place in gaming adaptation history—proving that a video game movie can be both critically acclaimed and commercially viable. Whether it translates that critical success into box office triumph remains to be seen when it reaches mainstream audiences later this month.
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