// PC GAMER — GAMING
Resident Evil is the best videogame movie because Bryan sucks
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My God, they've done it. We're finally in the era when videogame movies can actually be good. Not just good for a videogame movie, or "It's good, but here are 50 caveats." It's simply brilliant. And Resi's lovably feckless protagonist Bryan is the primary reason. But before I dive in, I need to warn you about something.
Yep, this is going to be spoiler city. Spoilers for days, folks! Spoilers as big as your head—if your head is exceedingly large. So I'm going to give you ample time to stop scrolling. I am here to protect you.
OK, great, I am now free to spoil the heck out of this excellent movie. Hurray!
The best thing filmmaker Zach Cregger did with Resident Evil was leave the heroes in the games. Bryan is not a hero. He's not skilled with firearms like Leon, nor does he have huge, rock-punching arms like Chris. He's just a tired dork trying to complete his last job of the night.
Bryan is not some stand-in for the protagonists we know and love—he is effectively a Resident Evil player, transported into a Resident Evil crisis. He's a more specific kind of everyman, one who reflects Resi fans.
His ear-demolishing screams, his silly mistakes, his complete lack of knowledge about firearms (he has used them in videogames), his cowardice and ineptitude—all of these traits transform Resident Evil from the over-the-top action movies we're normally stuck with into a survival horror romp that you can laugh at.
His cowardice and ineptitude aren't even that noteworthy, in that it's how most of us would react in this situation. He's as cowardly and incompetent as the average Resident Evil player would be if they were thrown into an actual apocalypse. This means his mistakes and near misses aren't frustrating. We're not sitting there thinking, "I could do better". Instead we empathise. I'm not judging you. I'd suck at this too.
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That said, he does fuck up a lot. For your convenience, here's a list of his dumb mistakes: