Resident Evil: Degeneration |
  • Japan • 2008 • 97m •    • Directed by: Makoto Kamiya. • Starring: Paul Mercier, Alyson Court, Laura Bailey, Roger Craig Smith, Crispin Freeman, Michelle Ruff, Michael Sorich, Salli Saffioti, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Steve Blum, Michael McConnohie, Kirk Thornton, Cindy Robinson. • Music by: Tetsuya Takahashi.     A warrior seeking revenge unleashes a deadly virus in Harvardville. Responding to the threat are former special forces members Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who look to bring down a mutated monster before history repeats itself.
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Review:
An admittedly thin plot without the trappings of actually getting to play through the proceedings with a controller, it's all pretty rehashed through and through. Since it is the zombie subgenre after all, die-hard fans will find they don't care. Still, for a franchise that prides itself on innovation, it's annoying to see so much retread ground. We get it: shoot the zombies in the head. We don't need this established in EVERY incarnation of a zombies film. The movie also puts more of an emphasis on action over horror, and action over plot. The plot is uninteresting, full of holes and the same question of "Why is turning people into deadly monsters a profitable corporate venture again?" remains unanswered. Still, the action is pretty slick.
One annoyance was that well known characters Claire and Leon are side-lined and given little for character expansion to make room for new character Angela Miller (Laura Bailey), a fairly dull overly sensitive cop with attributes worthy of Lara Croft (albeit unseen until the end of the film). Alyson Court gives a decent vocal performance. Paul Mercier vocal performance is painfully boring and his character exists as nothing but a stock action hero with no personality whatsoever. Keanu Reeves could have filled in. It's even more irritating to hear Steve Blum, the king of anime and voice of Spike Spiegel on Cowboy Bebop, voice such a whiny and frivolous character.
The film is done entirely in CGI and is an impressive graphical feat, though the Japanese still don't know how to show physical embraces without it looking weird. Also, why is the final boss monster so laughable? Previous creatures in the actual video games were terrifying, Tyrant, Nemesis and El Gigante in particular. It's disappointing and rather laughable then, to see a freakish monster with a man's head and an enormous clawed hand. There is a short parkour sequence that is delightful, but on the whole, the film is a pass. This is a film for die-hard fans of the Resident Evil video games primarily.
Review by joestank15 from the Internet Movie Database.
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