Resident Evil:Degeneration
Dir. Makoto Kamiya

As cliche' as it may sound, you should all know I'm not you're ordinary horror/movie fan. Before I even realized how much I loved movies and horror, I had already seen most of the popular classics, tons of hardcore gory horror shit, and hundreds of amazing imports. My interest in the horror genre can be traced to my early childhood. I wouldn't have all the interests I have today if it wasn't for my oldest brother Noe who infected me and my other brother Ivan with the interest too see bodies mutilated on screen, and corpses rise from there graves lusting for human flesh. Yes folks, I know you've heard it a billion times, especially in the past couple years since the horror genre (especially zombie sub-genre) has become a fad amongst high school teenie-weenies. However, my interest in horror even stretched to other sources aside from films. I distinctly remember my 7th grade summer vacation and how I spent it. I didn't go to camp. I didn't spend it hanging out with friends. Nope, I spent it playing Resident Evil 2 day in and day out. It was the very first game that had incredible cinematics, 2 discs with 4 different endings, a great story, and many other amazing shit that I can remember. In other words, I played the fuck out of that game. Going into this movie I'm reviewing I had already read nothing but good things about it (except from teenie-weenies who think Snyder's Dawn remake is the holy grail of horror). But I certainly didn't think it was going to be as awesome as it was. Especially for a full CG animated film. Here's my review for video game based full animated movie, Resident Evil:Degeneration.

The "Umbrella Incident" that took place in Raccoon City was ended with the eradication of the deadly virus by a missile attack ordered by the government. As its operations were suspended on a global scale, Umbrella Corporation stock plummeted. This serious blow to the business giant resulted in its complete dissolution. 7 years later, at an airport somewhere in the United States. An ordinary autumn afternoon. One zombie is unleashed into this peaceful scene to attack everyone. In the airport starting to fill up with the undead, the horrific disaster is about to be repeat itself. (Movieweb.com)



First and foremost I should point out that this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the Resident Evil trilogy everybody is more familiar about. Although I think Milla Jovovich is a total babe, I really don't want to see her in anymore films using and destroying the name Resident Evil. I was glad to finally see a film based directly on the video game which I happen to think has a very intriguing storyline. What had me most interested was the fact that we were given another story that would regroup my two favorite Resident Evil characters, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Resident Evil 2 for the original Playstation was one of the first games that I remember playing religiously. The fact that I was going to see these two characters again had me pumped. Any fan of the games will wet their pants to know that their are about 3 short scenes where they show flashbacks of Leon and Claire during the events in Resident Evil 2. Leon wearing his rookie R.C.P.D uniform and Claire sporting the red vest and red cut-off shorts took me back to the years where I was a full blown nerd that couldn't get a girlfriend if my life depended on it. Although those scenes are real short, they're definitely huge bonus points for any fan of the games.



The story itself is one that easily could've been made into a game itself. It's not anything amazing, but it does have enough punch to keep you interested and guessing where the movie is going. I will admit it was somewhat predictable in some parts, but as a fan this was a welcome entry to the series. I honestly can't see a hardcore movie buff even being remotely interested in this movie mainly because it's animated and not Disney animated. However, the story shouldn't disappoint any fans or even casual horror/game fans who are just looking for a different film experience from the usual. What helps this film stand out are the obvious CG visuals. The entire film looks amazing and I even thought it looked far better than any of those multi-million dollar budget Disney films we get five or six times a month. Their are alot of slow motion action scenes that are just completely awesome. One scene that really stands out off the top of my head is where Leon and Claire are both being attacked by zombies, so Leon tosses his pistol to Claire as the scene slows down. The camera takes the point from behind the flying pistol as you see Claire kick off a zombie, catch the pistol, and flip it around her hand all slick and badass right before she blasts four zombies directly in the head while spinning in a Tequila-Hard Boiled maneuver. Really well done and rad looking. Another scene that is just awesome is when one of the characters (not saying who) becomes the mutated monster (not saying why or when) and goes on an all out rampage on Army soldiers. Another slow motion scene that shows the monster leap into the air while a soldier packs an M-203 shell on his rifle. Right when the soldier looks up to blast the beast we get the awesome slow motion scene of the monster landing and impaling the soldier head-on with lots of blood and debrea exploding out from the impact. Amazing looking stuff that makes the film really damn good.



This movie is just action packed with alot of blood and bullets flying around. The zombies look great and the action is top notch. Although their isn't much of a slow down in the story, their are some scenes that do drag on a little bit too long for their own good. However, in the end it all pays off and you quickly forget about them because of all the rad back-to-back scenes. Another very tiny insignificant complaint I do have towards the film are some of the cheesy one-liners. It may not seem like much, but since I'm basically being a critic it is only fair to knit-pick in certain areas. However, to the films defense on the one-liners, I will say that the voice acting is perfect. Alyson Court revisits her role as Claire Redfield. Court was also Claire's voice back in Resident Evil 2,Code Veronica, and many other cartoons that I had no idea were being voiced by her as well. Jubilee in the X-Men cartoons, Lydia in the Beetlejuice cartoons, and even Jubilee in the Marvel vs Capcom arcade games were all voiced by Court all of which I'm familiar with. Another fun little fact that made me like this movie even more was the fact that Leon S. Kennedy was voiced by Paul Mercier who also voiced Specter is all the SOCOM: US Navy Seals videogames which me and both my brother played religiously for about 4 years day in and day out. I have no idea how we all even got girlfriends during that period in our lives because we were indoor cretins who gamed way too much for our own good (lawlz).

To sum up my thoughts on this flick, I really don't know how to convince anybody to watch a fully CG animated horror movie, let alone a movie based on a video game. In all honesty, I highly recommend all horror fans to check this movie out because it's simply tons of fun, amazing, beautiful to look at (I fell in love with Claire..), and shouldn't even be considered anything else but a full blown horror film. Although this film is an amazing treat for fans of the games, anybody who is remotely into horror films can definitely enjoy this movie in some kind of way. Highly recommended and will definitely find its way onto my DVD collection when it is released December 27th.

FINAL GRADE: B+ (8/10)