|
SYNOPSIS:
A zombie attack brings chaos to Harvardville Airport. Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield who fought the sinister Umbrella Corporation during the Raccoon City tragedy 7 years ago, are back. In high-octane Resident Evil style, they're ready to battle a rogue warrior who is seeking revenge after his family was killed in Raccoon City. The deadly G-Virus is unleashed and a new mutated monster goes on the rampage. Will Claire and Leon be able to terminate the virus before history repeats itself?
MOVIE
REVIEW:
I’m
not a fan of the Resident Evil series but I’m sure there’s
a lot here that will please aficionados of the franchise-
countless zombies disposed of in gory bloodletting fashion,
corporate conspiracies involving the government and some privately
owned biotechnological company, and to top it off, two heroes,
Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy from the games’
bestselling volume Resident Evil 2.
As the first original CG movie to be produced for the franchise,
the makers of the game and also the producers of this movie,
Capcom Entertainment, seem to have paid great attention to
make sure that the look of the movie actually resembles the
environment of the game. Whether is it the fictional Harvardville
airport where the infection first begins, or the WiiPharma
facility where the action shifts to in the second half of
the movie, one cannot help but marvel at the near photorealistic
finish of the landscapes.
Pity then that what painstaking labour must be gone into creating
the various environments is unfortunately at odds with the
shoddy character rendering. Within its opening few minutes,
one will surely notice the jarring lack of synchronicity between
the characters’ lip movements and their dialogue. Just
as obvious is the stilted motion of the characters on screen,
especially when they are walking, as well as the stony, inexpressive
nature of their faces.
Indeed, the CG animation here has its fair share of hits and
misses- beautiful in some parts and appalling in others. Ditto
for the movie’s script- despite keeping things moving
along efficiently during the film’s first and last third,
its middle section is a convoluted mess that could have used
a little more finesse. As it is, the overindulgent exposition
on filling in the characters’ backstories and possible
WiiPharma conspiracies actually derails the fine sense of
pacing the movie has built up from the start.
Otherwise, Resident Evil Degeneration wisely leaves the events
of Raccoon City and the T-virus behind so to begin a different
chapter of the Resident Evil story in a new city. Instead
of the deccimated Raccoon City, we get a new picturesque town
called Harvardville and also an updated, more potent strain
of virus known simply as the G-virus. And what a shrewd change
it is- so rather than the countless hordes of zombies we usually
see, the showdown at the end is now even more climatic with
an absolute bad-ass mutated monster.
Yes, if you were disappointed by the film adaptations of Resident
Evil by a certain Paul W.S. Anderson, this CG original movie
coming from a Japanese team will definitely offer fans loads
more to chew on. And if you’re not already a fan, no
matter- there’s still plenty of thrills here to satisfy
the action junkie craving in you.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
The Generation of Degeneration is a 30-minute in-depth
look at the birth of this movie, especially notable for how
faithful the makers have been to the source material. Definitely
worth a look at for fans of the game. There’s also a
sneak peek at the just-released Resident Evil 5 video
game that looks so similr to this movie that you’ll
be forgiven it’s a trailer for the sequel. Not so interesting
are the Faux Leon interview (an interview
with the voice actor behind Leon S. Kennedy), and some voice
bloopers that are less amusing than puzzling.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Great
visual transfer makes the landscapes look beautifully realistic.
The Dolby 5.1 audio track will also certainly please you during
the many action scenes in the movie.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
|
