Review - Resident Evil: Degeneration (Film)

Written by Daniel Lloyd

Wednesday, 28 January 2009 06:30

Do you enjoy the Resident Evil video games? Do you despise the Resident Evil movies? Then Resident Evil: Degeneration is for you. Picking up not long after the events of Resident Evil 4, Degeneration starts off with a bang and really doesn't stop. Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Umbrella, Tricell, zombies, blood, bullets...they're all here. A Capcom produced entirely CGI film, it's a fine fit into the Resident Evil universe. peeweeescapes1

Things start off in an airport. It's travelers and business as usual, until a protester or dressed as a zombie shows up. He's unmasked and taken away, when another zombie appears, only he's not out for political change, but rather some good ol' human brains. Before you know it, people are running, planes are crashing, and zombies are everywhere. Quarantine is inevitable, and Leon is brought in to do some major butt kicking. There's a bit of a meandering plot with the influence Tricell had over the whole ordeal, a love story, and tampering with the virus for personal gain. It's a bit silly, but then again, so are the plots of all the games. So if you can buy into the Las Plagas/President's daughter plan of RE4, this should feel right at home.

The CGI is pretty remarkable. Environments, in daylight or night, are hard to distinguish from the real thing. The only problem I had, which it took a while for me to get over, were the humans. There's just something about CGI portraying humans they we haven't mastered yet. The models look okay, but when they speak, there's something very creepy about it that puts me out. That and the hair. What is it about the ultra-fine CGI hair that makes me cringe? Is it just me?

re-degen-more-screenshots Like I said, fans of the games should be a fan of the movie, especially if the fact that the Milla Jovovich vehicles make you angry. It's deep enough to warrant a story that continues where RE4 left off, yet action-packed enough to sit back, not really pay attention, and OOH and AAH at the explosions, headshots, and narrow escapes (which there are all plenty of.) I especially enjoyed the over-the-top action finale. Not spoiling anything, it uses every device possible. Sacrifice, gun fights, monsters, fear of drowning, scaffolding, cliffhanging...you name it, it's there. I wouldn't say it's a great zombie movie, but for the Resident Evil movies, it takes the cake.

Resident Evil: Degeneration is now available on DVD, UMD, and Blu-Ray.

Comments (2) Add Comment

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written by JJ BANKS, January 28, 2009

Does this end by setting-up Resident Evil 5?

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written by SuicideNinja, January 28, 2009

@JJ Banks: Not really.

I actually like the regular movies and was really disappointed in Degeneration (wait until it's $10 if you want to buy it imho). A lot of the action seemed to lack oomph...I expected more from a CG movie based on a video game. It seems targeted at fans of the series since the presence of the characters seemed to be more highlighted than what they actually do. While RE4 was awesome to me, I share zero affection for its predecessors...but then again I was late to the party on those.