Resident Evil: Degeneration
In following with the zombie themed Left 4 Dead review I have recently had a chance to watch Resident Evil: Degeneration. A movie based in the world of the Resident Evil video games. Unlike the previous Resident Evil movies released in the US this one has no real actors it is fully CG and created by Capcom in association with Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. The question now becomes is a Resident Evil movie created in the country of the games origin any better than the bastardized US incarnations?
The story is far more convoluted than it really needs to be. It is actually quite a shallow story. A pharmaceutical company, WilPharma, is trying to develop an antidote for the T-virus, which wrecked havoc in Raccoon city. But a terrorist organization wants Wilpharma to tell the truth about the company. The company is actually keeping a dark secret. There is what is thought to be a terrorist attack in an airport terminal and zombies quickly take over the terminal. Claire Redfield is trapped inside with a few survivors one of which is a powerful senator. Leon S. Kennedy is called in to stage an extraction.
The second act of the story takes place at Wilpharma headquarters where a member of the terrorist organization sets off a bomb. He eventually injects himself turning himself into a zombie and attacks military and eventually Leon who shows up after being called by Claire. The end of the story has a twist but it's kinda of obvious.
The CG for the movie is ranked somewhere between Final Fantasy: Spirits Within and Final Fantasy: Advent Children. It's not as bad as spirits but not quite as good as Advent Children. The environments in the movie are beautifully rendered and so are the characters. However the character movements sometimes seem mechanical and are not quite as smooth as they should or could be. The dark portions of the film are too dark in my opinion but that could also be the copy of the film that I was watching.
A knowledge of Resident Evil lore is required to fully enjoy the movie. I am not a huge fan of the series and therefore am not familiar with all the small details of the story. That could be why I did not really enjoy the movie to much. They don't do any characterization at all. You are expected to know Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy from the games. If you don't then too bad. The movie can be watched as a standalone but it's better for fans. It is not a good zombie movie. The first half of the movie is exciting and interesting to watch but the second half was rather dull.
I guess one of my main qualms with the movie is that the second half and the climax were boring. The story isn't intriguing enough to keep your attention through all the tedious dialogue. At the end of the day it doesn't feel like the movie really adds all that much to the Resident Evil story. It just seems like a small detour that has no real affect on the rest of the story. The strength of the video games were that they put you in a town or city where there was really no escape. In the movie there wasn't that sense of despair and urgency.
If you're a hardcore fan of the games then I say buy the DVD when it is released later this month. For a casual fan or someone just looking for a zombie movie I think you can probably pass on this one and not feel bad nor miss out on much. It's pretty forgettable.
The story is far more convoluted than it really needs to be. It is actually quite a shallow story. A pharmaceutical company, WilPharma, is trying to develop an antidote for the T-virus, which wrecked havoc in Raccoon city. But a terrorist organization wants Wilpharma to tell the truth about the company. The company is actually keeping a dark secret. There is what is thought to be a terrorist attack in an airport terminal and zombies quickly take over the terminal. Claire Redfield is trapped inside with a few survivors one of which is a powerful senator. Leon S. Kennedy is called in to stage an extraction.
The second act of the story takes place at Wilpharma headquarters where a member of the terrorist organization sets off a bomb. He eventually injects himself turning himself into a zombie and attacks military and eventually Leon who shows up after being called by Claire. The end of the story has a twist but it's kinda of obvious.
The CG for the movie is ranked somewhere between Final Fantasy: Spirits Within and Final Fantasy: Advent Children. It's not as bad as spirits but not quite as good as Advent Children. The environments in the movie are beautifully rendered and so are the characters. However the character movements sometimes seem mechanical and are not quite as smooth as they should or could be. The dark portions of the film are too dark in my opinion but that could also be the copy of the film that I was watching.
A knowledge of Resident Evil lore is required to fully enjoy the movie. I am not a huge fan of the series and therefore am not familiar with all the small details of the story. That could be why I did not really enjoy the movie to much. They don't do any characterization at all. You are expected to know Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy from the games. If you don't then too bad. The movie can be watched as a standalone but it's better for fans. It is not a good zombie movie. The first half of the movie is exciting and interesting to watch but the second half was rather dull.
I guess one of my main qualms with the movie is that the second half and the climax were boring. The story isn't intriguing enough to keep your attention through all the tedious dialogue. At the end of the day it doesn't feel like the movie really adds all that much to the Resident Evil story. It just seems like a small detour that has no real affect on the rest of the story. The strength of the video games were that they put you in a town or city where there was really no escape. In the movie there wasn't that sense of despair and urgency.
If you're a hardcore fan of the games then I say buy the DVD when it is released later this month. For a casual fan or someone just looking for a zombie movie I think you can probably pass on this one and not feel bad nor miss out on much. It's pretty forgettable.
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