Thursday, December 11, 2008
Resident Evil: Degeneration
'This is too much.' -- Claire Redfield, as she yanks the zombie mask off a protestor.
Well, if only things were that simple when it comes to zombies in the Resident Evil franchise. Simply tugging on their skin and telling them off would definitely not work if you come face to face with a real zombie and not some zombie-masked protestor. At least that's what the officer taught us when he kept pulling on the hair of the zombie and got bitten in the neck instead.
The first full-length CG animated feature from the widely known and wildly popular zombie-killing franchise, RE:Degeneration returns to the roots of its video games counterpart, picking up seven years after the catastrophic events in Raccoon City.
As a CG animated film, what most audience would come to expect is the realness of its characters while at the same time, retaining some of their video games charm. In my opinion, the audience is given what they wanted in RE:D, with the characters perfectly blended between the lines of reality and virtual reality. Unlike the live trilogy, the animation creates the effect of not only watching it as a movie but also at the same time, as though you're playing the game. Most of all, it stars the protagonists from the games that everyone has known for so long and gotten chummy with.
"Ladies and gentlemen, flight Z0MB13S has landed"
The story itself started out with a quick summarization of events, in the form of news reports, that took place after Raccoon City was blown up in an attempt to destroy the T-virus outbreak. Then, we're shown the female protagonist, Claire Redfield, arriving at the Harvardville airport and meeting her friend. From there, things quickly escalated into an intense situation, within the first ten minutes, when the airport is overrun by zombies. Honestly, the outbreak came as a surprise to me as we were first shown a zombie staggering towards Senator Ron Davis, which then bit an officer who foolishly assumed it was another masked protestor and grargh, zombies galore. I guess this what they call a calm before a storm in RE.
I'm the idiot zombie! Outdumb me if you can!
Ok, hold on there. First of all, I thought zombies were supposed to have this uncontrollable urge to attack any human being in sight. If so, that first zombie must be an idiot, probably a side effect of death, to target a senator guarded by bodyguards instead of the crowd of people cluttering the terminal. Secondly, where were the other zombies hiding? Laying in wait while watching pounds and pounds of living flesh walk past them till the idiot zombie made a move? Highly unlikely. Lastly, has no one heard of a zombie before? I mean, after a huge incident such as Raccoon City being blown up because it was infested by zombies? They were practically surprised to see the zombie get back up after getting shot at. But well, we can let these minor issues slide.
Top = Umbrella = Umbrella Corporation. Ironic.
Wait, I'm not ready for my close-up yet!
As though the sitation wasn't chaotic enough, a plane crashes into the airport and with it, zombie passengers. I guess it's welcome to Harvardville and enjoy your meal for the zombies while it's welcome to Harvardville and survive your stay for the others. Hmm...wrong place, wrong time? Next, we're introduced to the male protagonist, Leon S. Kennedy, a special agent sent by the White House. Together with two S.R.T. agents, Angela and Greg, they infiltrated the airport to save the senator. The storyline at this point was at its all time high, with Leon getting to Claire and the senator and then making their escape. From there on, the story began to slow down its pace for quite a while. In other words, no zombies. Viewers are then left guessing who's behind the outbreak at the airport and are eventually led to the WilPharma building, a pharmaceutical company researching a vaccine for the T-virus, where it is revealed that a sample of the G-virus is stored. Finally, we get to see some moaning and groaning zombies again, albeit a little since the main focus here is the G-virus.
Now that I have a gun, which dummy should I shoot first?
Since you volunteered...
Comparing the storyline to the video games, I'd say it's different on some level. In the video games, the main focus is to have players survive groups and hordes of flesh lusting zombies, relying on firearms or any weapon deemed usable. However, in RE:D, viewers aren't given much of that action and thrill, not that I'm suggesting they should have the characters running about, firing at zombies for the entire run of the movie. At the very least, they should have a 'do or die' situation for the characters since they were like breezing through every obstacle that pops up. Indeed, Leon and Claire has had prior experience with the zombies and are considered best in the field when such situation arise but in all manners of speaking, they're still humans.
Nonetheless, the movie is something you should invest in. As with things CG animated, it is definitely less gory than its live trilogy counterpart though a little blood spatter is still present. Also, it never hurts to watch a CG animated film based on a video game just for kicks or to bask in the wonder of its jaw-dropping animation. The story, characters and action sequences sometimes turn out to be pretty well-done, as in the case with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and in this case, Resident Evil: Degeneration.
Last Updated @ 9:34 AM
Signed: Whoever was here...
"Ladies and gentlemen, flight Z0MB13S has landed"
I'm the idiot zombie! Outdumb me if you can!
Top = Umbrella = Umbrella Corporation. Ironic.
Wait, I'm not ready for my close-up yet!
Now that I have a gun, which dummy should I shoot first?
Since you volunteered...