Resident Evil’s Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Means Zach Cregger’s Reboot Has Already Achieved One Major Milestone
Despite previously being best known as a member of a cult comedy troupe, Zach Cregger has quickly cemented his place in the history of horror after delivering the amazing one-two punch of Barbarian and Weapons. Following the sleeper hit he released in 2022, his last movie went on to secure an Academy Award, a rarity in the genre, but his biggest challenge was ahead: satisfying video game fans. Even more troubling than that: Resident Evil fans. After a slew of Resident Evil movies that had only a passing resemblance to the games, it seemed like they might finally get something a little closer.
The good news is that Cregger’s take on the material harkens to Resident Evil games in some unique ways, but the bad news for picky fans is that it doesn’t include beloved characters or cherished stories from the games…at all. That said, the reviews are officially in, and Cregger’s Resident Evil is not only a certified hit with critics who have seen the movie, but it has claimed two crowns that so far have been a race to the bottom, with reviews making it the highest-rated video game movie of all-time.
New Resident Evil Movie Is the Highest-Rated Video Game Movie Ever
As of this writing, with 75 total reviews posted for the movie, Resident Evil (2026) has a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it a “massively impressive and effective film” and “how movies and video games can merge.” The result is a film with a score so much higher than everything else in the “video game movie” pipeline that it’s almost a complete anomaly, especially when factoring in how the film is a faithful adaptation in execution and tone but not character or story.
Prior to the release of Resident Evil (2026), the highest-rated video game movie of all time was actually 2024’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which has a still impressive 86%, tying it with another underrated film, 2021’s Werewolves Within. What this means is that even as the score for Resident Evil (2026) fluctuates, it will likely still hold the crown of the highest-rated video game movie ever, unless a slew of negativity is unleashed on it like the T-Virus.
Perhaps even more impressive is that prior to Resident Evil‘s debut, there were only eight movies based on video games that even had a “Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score, with others including The Angry Birds Movie 2 (72%), Pokémon Detective Pikachu (68%), and Mortal Kombat II (64%). From there, the scores and films are dreadful, like Warcraft at 29%, Assassin’s Creed at 18%, and Borderlands at 10%.
The implication of the new Resident Evil taking the top spot among all video game movies, though, is that it has immediately become the highest-rated movie in the Resident Evil franchise as well. It’s one thing to say that, and another to see the numbers in front of you, though.
| Resident Evil Movies by RT Score | |
| Resident Evil (2026) | 96% |
| Resident Evil: The Final Chapter | 39% |
| Resident Evil (2002) | 36% |
| Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City | 30% |
| Resident Evil: Retribution | 28% |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | 24% |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife | 21% |
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | 18% |
All told, that Cregger not only made a video game movie that is critically beloved but did it while ignoring the fan demand, is a minor miracle. Time will tell how the movie is received by the public, but right now it’s defying history in a major way.