The Resident Evil movies are apocalyptic action horror films, loosely based on the game series of the same name. With the first Resident Evil video game having been released in 1996, the franchise had several years to gain traction before the first film installment was released. Resident Evil was one of many video game movies that were made in the early 2000s, and while it strayed from the source material in many ways, it was a fun action flick.
Since the success of the first Resident Evil movie, six additional live-action movies have been released. It’s easy to get caught up in the mix of which order to watch the movies. Not all of the films are directly linked, but the vast majority follow Milla Jovovich’s Alice as she lives through the zombie apocalypse in a steadily more outlandish adaptation of the world the video games established. Here is the correct order to watch all the live-action Resident Evil movies.
Resident Evil (2002)
credit: Resident Evil (2002)
Resident Evil (2002) is the first film to watch in the series, serving as the movie that started the franchise’s live-action series. After rejecting initial scripts from filmmakers and scriptwriters, the studio announced in 2000 that Paul W. S. Anderson would serve as the film’s writer and director. Although critics were not impressed by the movie’s storyline, the film was successful at the box office, grossing $103 million on a $33 million budget.
Resident Evil follows Alice as she searches for her lost memories in a deserted mansion and is joined by a team of agents who are searching for something in the Umbrella Corporation’s secret underground facility below the house. A very loose adaptation of the setting of the first game, Resident Evil takes a lot of artistic freedom. Milla Jovovich stars as Alice alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Martin Crewes, Eric Mabius, Colin Salmon, and James Purefoy.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
credit: Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Next up in the order to watch the Resident Evil movies is Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Paul W. S. Anderson returned as a writer, while Alexander Witt took over the role of director. Like its predecessor, Resident Evil: Apocalypse received negative reviews from critics and is now the lowest-rated film in the Resident Evil live-action franchise according to Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of just 19%. It is worth noting, however, that the audience score is much higher, sitting at 60%.
With a budget of $45 million, the movie grossed $129.3 million, making it a success at the box office. Milla Jovovich reprises her role as Alice and the film also introduced two classic characters from the games, Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr).
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
credit: Resident Evil: Extinction
The third film in the Resident Evil live-action franchise is Resident Evil: Extinction. Even more loosely based on the video game’s story, Alice journeys to Alaska through the Mojave desert. She and a band of Raccoon City survivors must fight through zombies to avoid being infected.
Milla Jovovich reprises her role and Paul W. S. Anderson also comes in as a writer with Russell Mulcahy as director and Ali Larter joined the cast as the video game protagonist Claire Redfield. While critics continued to dislike the franchise, audiences still enjoyed the movie with Resident Evil: Extinction grossing $147.7 million on a $45 million budget.
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
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Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich return for the fourth film in chronological order, Resident Evil: Afterlife. The movie introduced Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), a recurrent antagonist from the games, as well as adding Wentworth Miller as Chris Redfield, another classic Resident Evil video game protagonist and the brother of Claire (who also returned). Resident Evil: Afterlife grossed $300.2 million on a $60 million budget.
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
credit: Resident Evil: Retribution
Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth movie to watch in the Resident Evil live-action movie franchise, follows on directly from the end of Resident Evil: Afterlife. After Alice is captured by Umbrella Corporation, the movie follows her escape from the company’s Extreme North underwater testing facility. Paul W. S. Anderson continued as the franchise’s writer and director and the movie saw a box office success yet again with its budget of $65 million, netting $240.2 million.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
credit: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is the last film in the original live-action series, and concludes Alice’s story. As such, it is the last film to star Milla Jovovich as its lead, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter brought back some old characters from the first film for a farewell. It is the highest-grossing film in the Resident Evil film series. It grossed $312.2 million on a $40 million budget.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
credit: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
With the Alice/Milla Jovovich Resident Evil movie series concluded, it is easy for viewers to end their watch run there. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is completely independent of all the live-action movies that came before in the franchise, taking place in a separate timeline. Johannes Roberts was brought in to write and direct the seventh live-action movie adapted from the Resident Evil game series.
Set in 1998, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City combines the narrative of the first two Resident Evil video games into one storyline as events at Spencer Mansion and in Raccoon City itself play out and the zombie apocalypse truly begins. It is possible to watch Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City without watching any of the previous live-action movies, or having played the games. Much like the Milla Jovovich movies, the reboot holds a critic score of only 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, but a higher audience score with 65%. The film succeeded at the box office despite complications from the pandemic and grossed $42 million on a $25 million budget.
