Resident Evil fans slam 'boring' Netflix adaptation

Resident Evil: Jade rails against the apocalypse.
Resident Evil fans wish the series would pick up the pace... (Image credit: Netflix)

Resident Evil has landed on Netflix but fans aren't too impressed by the pacing of the series, which is based on the horror game franchise of the same name.

The series follows Jade Wesker (Ella Balinska) as she fights for survival in a world overrun by blood-thirsty infected and mind-shattering creatures, and is set in the year 2036 which is 14 years after the spread of the antidepressant Joy, which was created by the Umbrella Corporation. 

Joy was created using illegal T-virus research data, which can create horrific monsters that are synonymous with the Resident Evil franchise, so a pill that's supposed to help people ends up doing the exact opposite — with catastrophic results.

The first episode follows Jade as she crosses paths with a gang of scavengers, while a second timeline set years earlier sees Jade and Billie (Adeline Rudolph) trying to make a fresh start in New Racoon City. In the present day, Jade is trying to figure out what happened to her sister.

But as thrilling as this synopsis is, fans aren't impressed with the narrative structure of the Netflix adaptation, with many criticizing the use of two different timelines and suggesting the pacing could have been a lot tighter.

Taking to Twitter, fans have offered up their initial thoughts about the eight-part series, and some have suggested the pacing issues have made the series "boring" to watch, much to their disappointment.

This isn't the first time Resident Evil has been adapted for the screen as there's a film franchise starring Milla Jovovich in the lead role of Alice. The franchise has six films in total and wasn't a critical success, averaging 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, the Netflix version has a score of 62% currently, making it an improvement on the film series but fans still have their criticisms about the way it was made!

Resident Evil is based on a Japanese horror game series that started in 1996 and has released titles all the way up to the present day, with the most recent one being 2021's Resident Evil: Village featuring new fan-favorite villain Lady Dimitrescu, but so far fans seem largely disappointed with the way the games have been adapted.

Resident Evil is available to watch via Netflix.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress