Post by: Halbred on January 06, 2009, 07:26:50 AM
Aside from the Metal Gear Solid series, I can’t think of another video game franchise with such a long-running and involved story as Resident Evil. There are heroes and villains, monsters and zombies, biohazards and heartbreak—what’s not to love? However, I’m somewhat of a snob when it comes to plotlines. I don’t give the time of day to non-canonical content, including the horrendous Resident Evil live-action trilogy (starring Mila Jolovolavich), so I was a little apprehensive when I heard about Resident Evil: Degeneration, a fully CG film starring Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Would the movie be canonical, or merely an excuse to get the former RE2 stars in the same room again? Turns out it’s both. The film takes place one year after the events of RE4 and serves as a bridge between that game and the next one, RE5. Degeneration also marks my first Blu-Ray purchase!
Since Umbrella Corporation’s untimely demise by the combined efforts of Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, and Jill Valentine in 2003, a new biotech firm has begun research on the T-Virus: WilPharma, which is being protested against for vaccine trials in India. The company is publicly supported by slimy senator Ron Davis, who is either a very blubbery human being or a very small beluga whale. Claire Redfield arrives in an airport in Harvardville (seriously? Harvardville?) to pick up a friend’s niece, and within minutes, a zombie-filled plane crashes into the terminal and the undead shenanigans begin anew! The marines are called in, as is Leon S. Kennedy, who still works directly for the President. The two former Raccoon City stars, along with some new friends, discover a new monster (it’s the G-Virus this time, kiddies) and an interesting conspiracy along the way. The consequences of these events will be felt in RE5, I guarantee it. Sadly, Wesker’s hand does not appear to be in this particular pie, but you can bet he benefited from the fallout.
If you’ve watched any of the movie’s multiple online trailers, you’ve probably thought to yourself, “that doesn’t look a whole lot better than a modern video game cutscene.” In fact, that’s basically true. The setpieces, though, are really spectacular and epic in scope. The human characters suffer from a non-stylized look, and that Uncanny Valley rears its ugly head. It’s not that the characters don’t look or act believable, it’s that they don’t match the stunningly realistic environments. Some of the animation, most of which was mo-capped, is unnaturally fast, but in general, the movie looks wonderful. It takes a few minutes to acclimate yourself to the portrayal of non-zombified human characters, but once you accept the aesthetic, you’ll be fine. It’s interesting to see what the modelers did with Claire and Leon. Claire’s original RE2 and RE: CV models are low-res and blocky, so the developers had to basically build her from the ground up, and they did a wonderful job. Leon, however, already has a perfectly acceptable model from RE4, but they changed his facial structure significantly here. He has a longer face and smaller eyes. It sounds like small potatoes, but it’s very distracting for those familiar with RE4. Leon is also the worst actor—while every other character displays a range of emotions in both their facial geometry and body language, Leon is immobile. The best character is undoubtedly Angela, a Special Response Team member who befriends Leon. She has depth and soul, and there’s a subtlety in her movements that’s lacking in the other main characters.
Sadly, the film is lacking good special features. There’s a lengthy and interesting “making of” documentary, but I was really jonesing for some concept art or animatics, neither of which is included here. There are two RE5 trailers which we’ve probably all seen before by now. The Blu-Ray disk has some PiP (Picture-in-Picture) stuff, but it’s not especially noteworthy. By the way, I recommend the Blu-Ray version if you have the means—as the film is completely CG, it will look better there. My rule with Blu-Ray is this: If the movie is animated or relies very heavily on CG-effects, go with it. Otherwise, you won’t be missing anything on the DVD. Blu-Ray is a superior technology for displaying digital effects. A movie like Wall-E will look mesmerizingly awesome on Blu-Ray. Some Like It Hot will look no different than the DVD you already own.
I hope Capcom continues down this road. Resident Evil has a great cinematic quality to it, and seeing a movie in the years between game releases could be a great way to give fans their zombie kick. If you like Resident Evil, I highly recommend Degeneration.
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on January 06, 2009, 08:45:10 PM
Post by: Halbred on January 06, 2009, 08:49:51 PM
Post by: broodwars on January 06, 2009, 08:52:56 PM
It's great to see a Resident Evil movie that actually fits in well with the game's chronology, and if they can improve on this level of quality with future RE CG movies I'm all for this series continuing (as Capcom obviously intends with the way the movie ends on a cliffhanger).
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 07, 2009, 03:52:38 AM
I agree about Leon, though. He was basically a big block of wood.
Post by: Morari on January 07, 2009, 11:03:41 PM
The action sequences bested anything in the live action movies and its easily one of the better videogame movies out there.
Watching a dog defecate bests anything in the live action movies. I do have a hard time believing that any video game based film will ever surpass the first Mortal Kombat. That said, I have had Degeneration on my NetFlix list for a few months now.
Post by: broodwars on January 08, 2009, 12:01:15 AM
The action sequences bested anything in the live action movies and its easily one of the better videogame movies out there.
Watching a dog defecate bests anything in the live action movies. I do have a hard time believing that any video game based film will ever surpass the first Mortal Kombat. That said, I have had Degeneration on my NetFlix list for a few months now.
Silent HIll already bested the first Mortal Kombat film years ago, although I remember that one being a good game-to-film adaptation as well.
Post by: Halbred on January 08, 2009, 02:59:59 PM
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on January 08, 2009, 07:02:45 PM
Post by: Peachylala on January 08, 2009, 08:50:57 PM
I agree about Leon, though. He was basically a big block of wood.Isn't it a general rule this generation to make lifelike models in video game graphics like wooden?
Or sob uncontrollably like Otacon, look old man old like Snake and bitchy like Meryl.
Post by: NWR_Karl on January 09, 2009, 01:05:22 PM
But I know you're way into Godzilla movies, Zach, so I guess that's right up your alley, anyway. :P
Post by: Halbred on January 09, 2009, 03:28:56 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on January 09, 2009, 04:39:24 PM
piss off, capcom
Post by: Caliban on January 09, 2009, 05:03:35 PM
Post by: Morari on January 09, 2009, 07:37:32 PM
The action sequences bested anything in the live action movies and its easily one of the better videogame movies out there.
Watching a dog defecate bests anything in the live action movies. I do have a hard time believing that any video game based film will ever surpass the first Mortal Kombat. That said, I have had Degeneration on my NetFlix list for a few months now.
Silent HIll already bested the first Mortal Kombat film years ago, although I remember that one being a good game-to-film adaptation as well.
Silent Hill did capture the general feel of the game pretty well. In general however, the CGI tended to be lame. Plus, the woman that they had playing the cop was simply painful to watch.
Watching MK now is pretty painful, honestly. We all have great memories of it, because it blew our minds when we were kids, but...really, go back and watch it. I did recently.
No it's not. I watch Mortal Kombat every now and then on general purpose. It ranks up there with The Matrix, Army of Darkness, and Dune as a film I never grow tired of viewing. It's essentially just a supernatural version of Enter the Dragon. Besides, even as a relatively campy martial arts film, it still beats out most of the unadulterated crap that Hollywood throws out nowadays.
Post by: AV on January 10, 2009, 01:27:23 AM
Here is my review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwe-UfBhd90 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwe-UfBhd90)
No spoilers in my review by the way
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on January 10, 2009, 02:50:25 AM
I seriously enjoyed the movie too.
Here is my review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwe-UfBhd90 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwe-UfBhd90)
No spoilers in my review by the way
No thanks
Post by: Arbok on January 12, 2009, 04:09:04 PM
Hurry up and release Godzilla 1985, Sony Tristar!
Sony doesn't have the US rights to The Return of Godzilla (aka Godzilla 1985). Anchor Bay does, and while there were talks of Warner Bros working with them to release a set that contained both the US and Japanese versions... nothing every materialized and probably won't at this stage. Like Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. Biollante, sadly the movie is probably going to stay in limbo for quite sometime in the US.
Post by: Plugabugz on January 13, 2009, 05:23:31 AM
Post by: ThePerm on January 25, 2009, 02:56:12 PM
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on January 25, 2009, 11:55:18 PM
This movie was terrible, absolutely terrible. From the beginning it was just poorly animated and poorly plotted. Some logic is thrown out the window in a very bad way, the dialog is terrible as is the voice acting. There is some physics that doesn't make sense, and not even in a video game type way. This movie is nothing but a cash in on the series, and a disgrace to film in general.
Wow i think we agree. I actually enjoyed the live action movies much more. Yeah they don't follow the plots of the games, though there are enough similarities for me to enjoy them in the context of the game. After seeing this film I can see why the movies are their own contained universe. Heck even the final battle in the movie was terrible, sometimes the monster looked like it was made from stop motion footage.
Post by: S-U-P-E-R on January 26, 2009, 03:41:15 AM
He musta ate all of it!
Post by: RABicle on January 30, 2009, 11:54:58 AM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on January 30, 2009, 12:03:03 PM
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 30, 2009, 01:41:04 PM
=\
Indeed...
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on January 30, 2009, 02:00:46 PM
