Resident Evil: Degeneration Review
By Dan Birlew | Posted December 4, 2008 in Film Reviews | Comments Off
Resident Evil fans endure a lot. Not only do we slug and blast our way through some of the scariest and most harrowing games ever made, but then we’re subjected to the overly rancid live-action movies. Apparently slapping themselves in the head for previous licensing blunders, Capcom and Sony Entertainment have teamed up to create Resident Evil: Degeneration, a CG animated film that features characters culled directly from the games. Unfortunately, the results are worth viewing by Resident Evil players and probably no one else.
Degeneration starts off with Claire Redfield (voiced by Alyson Court), the heroine of Resident Evil 2 and CODE: Veronica, arriving at the airport to meet some characters apparently sent her way from India by her brother Chris. They are apparently survivors of a T-virus outbreak there. The dreaded T-virus is what turned everyone into zombies in the games. But notice that I keep saying “apparently,” because none of this is explained. These could be vague references to the upcoming Resident Evil 5. So while Claire’s just smiling and enjoying the chance to play “action mommy” to another small girl, other scenes show protesters outside the airport booing a shady Senator who allowed whatever happened in India to happen. A terrorist who wants the government to tell the truth behind what happened to Raccoon City in the games unleashes the T-virus in the airport. Chaos breaks out, zombies start munching on people, and it’s up to Claire to screw up as usual while trying to save everyone. But lucky for her, Leon S. Kennedy (voiced by Paul Mercier) of Resident Evil 2 and 4 fame, goes in to save her.
This sets up the action for the rest of the movie. The action sequences are spectacular, but unfortunately few and far between. The zombies get shortchanged for screen time, as well. The movie spends most of the time trying to develop the relationships between the characters. While any writer would agree this is a noble pursuit, the development consists mainly of a lot of long pauses and facial muscle flexing. Still, kudos on the try. Good elements include a resurfacing of the G-virus, which turns people into hulking monsters with big eyeballs on their shoulders. Leon finally finds a girlfriend, as she’s always pissed off just like him. But again, you probably have to play the games to spot these things and appreciate them.
The CG animation is on par with Final Fantasy VII – Advent Children. But with that film coming out several years ago, you’d think CG would have reached a new benchmark by now. The lip synching of characters at times is inconsistent, at times dead-on but mostly way off. The voice actors from the video games bring some credibility and continuity to their characters, but they also sound like they’re reading a script that was translated from Japanese five minutes before they entered the studio. The key to success in CG movies like this is action, action, more action, and then finish off with–you guessed it–action. Dialog and advancement is more appreciable when it occurs during action, as seen in Shrek or The Incredibles or any of a dozen other CG movies. What the film tries to do is make you feel something for these characters through long, continuous stares and CG “acting,” and that’s just not the way it’s done. We might feel some more empathy with the characters if they just kept doing what they were doing, and let us understand their feelings about it in the aftermath. I felt like the film kept stopping to let me know this character felt one way, while another character felt the other. And since all the characters are CG, I really don’t care.
In short, Resident Evil fans are probably going to agree that this is tons better than the live-action movies, and that Capcom/Sony probably should have done these films in CG from the start. It’s definitely not a date movie or something you can watch with non-gamers. But for Resident Evil fans, there’s no better segue into Resident Evil 5. The DVD is out now in Japan, and releases stateside on December 30th.
Tags: animation, movie, Resident Evil
