Resident Evil

At least Resident Evil Degeneration is better than the live-action Resident Evil movies

Of the dozen or so problems that just about every Resident Evil fan has with the live-action movie trilogy, the number one thing has to be the lack of any real connection between the movies and the games other than the title. Thankfully Degeneration changes that by presenting an original story that is built right off of the core of the Resident Evil series and forms a bridge with the upcoming Resident Evil 5.

Seven years after the viral outbreak that resulted in the destruction of Raccoon City, survivor Claire Redfield now working for a company called Terra-Save arrives at an airport in Harvardville. On a separate airplane, a passenger infected with the T-virus succumbs to the virus and it spreads to others on board. Soon the plane crashes into the airport terminal unleashing the hundreds of individuals who have all become fully infected and are now zombies. As a response, security and hazmat officials close off the terminal which unknowingly locks away American Senator Ron Davis, along with Claire and a small group of others. To rescue the survivors, the government sends in special agent Leon Kennedy.

It might seem like a simple and straight-forward enough story, but this is never the case with anything Resident Evil and Degeneration follows suit. The first half of the story has a typical “shoot ‘em in the head” zombie movie feel to it, the shifty characters and shadowy motivations take over all too soon. But this is something you’d come to expect from the Resident Evil series which is both a good thing and a bad thing. The story itself isn’t bad, but it feels like it’s trying to connect too much with the games. I love that they used the actual characters and the little nods to previous games is fun to see but there was a lot of room for more individuality. Take the characters and take the elements of the franchise and use them but give me a movie that works as well on it’s own as it does fitting in with the rest of the Resident Evil cannon.

Now, unfortunately, there are more than a few things besides the story that could use some improvements. The voice acting is the biggest problem anyone is going to have to watch this movie. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a good 30 seconds where the voices match with the movements of the characters’ mouths. The character models were a little underwhelming as well. Leon, Claire, the Senator, everyone looks fine, but when you compare them with the surrounding environments or the zombies or even the G-virus monster, it just feels like there could have been a little more polish and detail worked in. Still though, once the bullets start flying and the blood starts splattering, everything looks really nice. It’s not exactly a jaw-dropping experience, but good-looking nonetheless.

The biggest let down however, that I found with the story was the lack of anything overly scary, especially for a horror film. The atmosphere seemed fine for the first half an hour or so, but a lot of the horror elements were not played up as such. Everything from the zombies to the sinister businessmen/politicians to the G-virus monster felt too much like a bullet filled action movie. You never feel like the main characters are in danger even after seeing more than a few groups of cannon fodder meet gruesome and untimely ends.

By large and far though, the most disappointing thing about Degeneration is the extra features. The only thing that is remotely interesting is the 30 minute “The Generation of Degeneration” featurette. The creative team behind the movie knows so much about the series that you’re bound to learn more than a few new things about the Resident Evil franchise. You also get a pretty neat look at a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff from the animation, to the character designs, to the motion capture acting. The only little nuisance about the feature is that the English subtitles don’t come on automatically. It’s a little puzzling since this is clearly designed to be an English-first film what with English being the primary audio and subtitle options.

After this making-of featurette, there’s really not much left to keep your attention. The voice bloopers are fine for a laugh or two, but it’s probably not something you’ll want to watch again. The “Faux Leon Interview” is a little different as it isn’t really Leon. The interview is with the motion-capture actor on set dressed in his mo-cap suit as he answers questions as Leon. It’s pretty much a waste though since the never cut away to the Leon character model nor do they feature Paul Mercier, the voice actor who’s portrayed Leon for so long, at any time.

If you’re a Resident Evil fan and you’re looking for something to hold you over until RE5, then Degeneration is just what the doctor ordered. Baring a few annoyances, the story is enjoyable enough and the two trailers of Resident Evil 5 are enough to satisfy anyone’s zombie (or not-zombie) killing bloodlust for another couple of months. Just don’t go in expecting anything spectacular in the way of special features or you’ll walk away disappointed.

Overall Score: 7/10