Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) User Reviews

For the Residen Evil Fans

[Rastelin · 7/10 · 8 December 2008]

It is important to remember It is important to remember that this is a fan movie. For someone like me it was great fun to be reunited with characters one played in the games. Much to it's defense this production stayed more true to the atmosphere in the games that recent flicks, something every Resident Evil fan will recognize. As for those of you not familiar with the games I won't vouch for the movie, but you may have a enjoyable time watching it anyway.

For the tec stuff. Graphics are all there although some of the animation could have been done better. This is not Pixar quality people say, but do have in mind the type of budget Pixar and the like have to work with.

All around a decent go at bringing a game legend to the animated screen.

Best Resident Evil Movie Ever (...but that's not saying much.)

[octavalvehandle · 7/10 · 18 November 2008]

I just got back from the West Coast premiere of RESIDENT EVIL: DEGENERATION. Overall it was fun but I'm a big fan of the RESIDENT EVIL video games. If you loves zombies or the games, it's a must. Otherwise, you may want to skip it.

It sort of reminded me of one long cut-scene from the games but I like the RE cut-scenes, so that's a good thing. It also has a genuine Japanese RE feel to it unlike those disappointing live-action movies.

I was hoping the story would have more relevance to the events of the games. Despite having Claire and Leon and a lot of other key elements, this seemed like a standalone adventure. (But we'll have to wait for RE 5 to see for sure.) If anything, it's a bit like an RE2 sequel but I would have preferred more appearance by the classic T-virus zombies.

The computer animation and motion capture mix sometimes makes the characters look like creepy mannequins. And the cheesy over dramatic dialog coming of their plastic faces causes a lot of unintentional laughs. When Leon Kennedy stands still, he looks like a photo printed on a piece of cardboard. And his personality is equally cardboard. But the RE games were never known for their acting. The 7 stars I'm giving this is for fans only. If you are not into the games, it may seem like a 2 to you.

(On DVD and Blu-Ray December 30, 2008)

More for fans of the game series. Not really intended for those who loved the movies.

[Vomitron_G · 6/10 · 5 November 2009]

Or perhaps you could say, bridging the gap between the video-games and the film adaptations with this spin-off CG motion picture. DEGENERATION tells a new story that happened about seven years after the first incident in Racoon City. It has some references to the game story lines (aswell as some returning characters), but in all honesty, this new script isn't really offering much new angles or anything. It's a little thin and not all that engaging.

It's okay as a stand-alone (animated) feature, meaning: I was happy to see it not tie in with the Milla Jovovich films (mainly because I liked the latest, post-apocalyptic EXTINCTION so much). The only two highlights of DEGENERATION (that brings in RE4's game character Leon S. Kennedy again, as the main hero) are the first act at the airport (which has a fabulous game-feel to it) and the main mutant monster (consider this a Bigg Boss Fight) at the facility later on. The other aspects in the film don't really matter much.

The CG animation looks slick enough, the camera angles are nicely directed, but the action (and especially the movements and facial features of the characters) comes across as fairly wooden and far from realistic. I remember being more impressed with the first FINAL FANTASY (THE SPIRITS WITHIN) film when it came out. In the end, DEGENERATION is a fun addition to the franchise, but nothing more.

From someone who is not familiar with the games... maybe skip it.

[justin_currie · 6/10 · 9 December 2008]

First off- I have a lot of respect for the resident evil games,I know they are at least solid enough to warrant several sequel games. I also know there is one or two good guys, a whack of zombies and usually a decked out uber badass boss character. I don't know much more, and for that reason, this movie really didn't do much for me.

There were too many moments throughout where some random guy/girl would show up, that im sure any resident evil fan would freak out at- but i just had no clue what the significance was. copious references that went over my head that one of the gamers would catch...made me basically feel out of the loop on this one.

I think I felt like one of my firends I've forced to watch advent children with no knowledge of Final Fantasy 7. there is just too much insider stuff for casual viewers.

wooden character animation, and above average vg cutscene style- but a very cool fight at the end, some decent gore kept up the pace.

defiantly recommend you check this out if you've played the games, however I would be very wary if your new to the Resident Evil universe, this is likely not the best place to start.

For RE fans mostly

[shadowolf2k · 6/10 · 5 December 2008]

I gave it a 7 because I'm a geek to the games, and this is pretty loyal to the series. In truth, as a critic, I'd say a 6 would be a more accurate portrayal of my review.

First, it's really awesome to see Claire and Leon together again. There's plenty of action, and the zombies are fun when they pop up (mostly at the airport setting - which is actually not a setting it takes place in for the majority of the movie, just to say).

It's not a perfect movie though, and I can't help but draw comparisons in ways which "Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children" suffered from (which was a movie I utterly despised). While you don't have to have played the game to understand it (unlike FF7) - yeah, you're definitely gonna have to be a fan of the series to truly appreciate it.

It looks beautiful, but there's the every-now-&-then when the characters still look and move too CGI-ish. And I can't help but notice how Leon has more Japanese facial features here. The plot works enough for a story to tell, but it seems to force in some cheesy melodrama, and the typical "if you ain't important, you're meat" thing. The way it moves and ends, I wonder if anything here will even be incorporated to the game arc, or if it was really its own story (because it feels like it)... like the games, some things aren't entirely resolved and new questions are made (and with the games going zombie-less, it makes you wonder!).

Still, if you're a fan, it's definitely worth watching -- you got the pair again (and I'm always pleased with Alyson Court continuing to reprise her role; there's no other Claire!), you got real zombies again, and it's all about kicking back and just watching them kick serious ass!

Decent...

[spamara_369 · 6/10 · 19 January 2009]

I was surfing on internet and I accidentally found trailer that computer made Resident Evil movie is coming to town! As I played all 4 games (and I long await fifth), I was very excited!

When I finally watched it, I was satisfied. It has some captivating scenes, CGI is doe perfectly, and Claire is better then ever... They tried to include all characters from Resident Evil franchise. As for the plot is considered, that is the only reason why I have given it 7. It's hard these days to make a good plot that will keep you edge of the seat whole movie. This one is decent, not so good, not so bad...

I can't say nothing more about this movie, if you are a fan of the game and movies, you will adore this one... If you are not familiar with serial (I don't know if there is a person that isn't), then this movie will be decent for you...

Better than i thought....for a 3d Animation

[metallipowerman5000 · 7/10 · 16 February 2009]

I laughed when i saw the DVD for sale....

I was thinking to myself "wow, after officially RUINING the resident evil name, now they are just trying another desperate move here..."

But the movie was actually decent and cool....

I thought Resident Evil 1 was pretty good, pretty realistic with the exception of the whole "conspiracy/ trained killer" thing going on...

RE2 excited me because they are in the city...how awesome...but it just turns into street fighter with zombies, and has a typically lame story line with bad acting....and that stupid black/pimp wannabe guy....Don't even get me started, he should have been turned down faster than the economy! But hey...its a zombie movie...so i'll watch it.

RE3 was awesome because it was in the DESERT, which i thought was awesome....and this is actually my favorite RE right next to RE1. But they attempted to cash in and copy the whole "hyper zombie" trend going on years before....but it wasn't THAT bad of a zombie movie...if you can call them zombies....I Wouldn't!

Resident Evil Degeneration did something the other RE's couldn't. It kept it as close to the video game as possible, while keeping a realistic feel to it(not bad for a 3d animation.) The movie felt like you were watching an hour long trailer for Left 4 Dead....which i thought was really cool! And it's a 3d movie, so you cant complain about the final boss at the end of the movie.

It reminded me almost EXACTLY like that Final Fantasy movie back in 2001, which was also a 3d animation movie.....so if you like those kinds of movie, you'll definitely like Degeneration.

Gotta give em ALITTLE credit this time....they didn't screw it up this time! With how fake the other resident evils were, they should have just been doing 3d movies from the BEGINNING!

----

I've ALWAYS been a huge fan of resident evil,etc.... You HAVE to admit, the first 3 movies they did were JUNK! They were totally fake and unrealistic(for a zombie movie), had too much "cover-up and conspiracy" crap, that even the GAME didn't have. The acting was usually bad...it HAD what could have been a good plot or story, but it's just like someone had a major identity crisis between what a GAME is, and what a MOVIE should be. He needs to go back to film school and learn how to ACTUALLY transfer a video-game to a movie script.... (which is obvious since the last 3 resident evils didn't even really make it to theaters)

All the dumbass had to do was write a basic script along the lines of what direction the GAME was going!(and not wasting time on wacky story lines and fake stuff)

I don't think im going to see the next movie...it'll probably be based off of Resident Evil 5 video game.....which could be an ABSOLUTELY AWESOME zombie/plague/infection movie....its PERFECT.

But somehow they will probably screw up the movie anyways! Id be surprised if the next resident evil movie even makes it to DVD! It'll be STARTING OFF in the $5 bin at Wal-mart!

Captivating CG movie full of zombies, do watch this one, even if not a fan of the franchise

[aghentik · 9/10 · 4 December 2008]

Alright, THIS IS NOT A FAN REVIEW (for the people complaining that the score is caused by fan reviews) saw the movie and i have to say, i agree with the fan guys, its really good. Keeps you glued to the screen from start to finish with is action sequences and calm moments alike. The plot is beautifully twisted and the CG is top-notch (although the walking animation is a bit awkward at places). You'll see some old friends and some new faces as well (Angela looks marvelous in the SRT outfit :P). Compared to the films with Mila Jovovich i'd say this (though shorter) is definitely better - a bigger punch in a smaller package.

see this one if you already haven't, its definitely worth it. ill be buying this when its out on DVD for sure.

If you aren't a fan of the series, don't even bother

[code_veronicannaX · 7/10 · 5 December 2008]

OK, so I've realized most of the horribly-negative reviews are from non-fans of the series.

NEWS FLASH, if you are not familiar with the series, nor do you know about the events in Resident Evil you will not understand many things in the film. And I see some people complaining about how the CGI was bad, or how the voice dubbing was bad. If they did some research, they would know CAPCOM made the movie with a relatively low budget, the budget for Resident Evil 5 was much higher, hence the graphics look a lot better on there than what you would find in here.

This film is not meant to be a masterpiece, nor is it meant to be enjoyed by everyone. If it had, Capcom would have spent a lot more time with it, the budget would have been much higher, and more improvements would have been made (the film was announced in October 2007, and released 1 year later). So as you see, there was not much Capcom could make out of with what they were given.

This film was meant to be catered to the Resident Evil fans. It's purpose was to explain the events of what happened after the game Resident Evil 4 (taken place in 2004). It was a "to whom it would concern" kind of film.

Anyway, here's my quick review as a fan...(SPOILERS) As a Resident Evil fan I may say the film did fulfill its original intention of explaining the events after Resident Evil 4, but still had several different flaws. For one, some of the characters were enjoyable to watch on screen, but others came off as flat and two-dimensional. Leon, in particular, bothered me by his very monotonous tone and his emotionless expressions. He never smirked, nor smiled, nor showed anger, in several parts when it was presumed it would be in nature to do so. He portrayed very little human emotion, and I felt like Capcom was trying to hard to portray him as the "smooth badass" but he came off as unrealistic and wooden.

There were also a very unnecessary love pairing that had ruined the film for me. The characters Leon and Angela, while they never had portrayed any remote attraction or affectionate interest in each other throughout the beginning and middle of the film (unless you count long, silent, awkward starings at each other in several parts of the film as signals of "affection"), they presumably end up together, and share a kiss underwater, all in the matter of several hours. If this were real life, no two people in professional positions would be sucking face in only a couple hours.

There were also several other relatively smaller flaws, but it would be a waste of typing to type it all on here.

As for pros, the storyline was very good. It might confuse some people in several parts, but tied all together it was quite plausible and creative. Because I think the storyline of a movie is the most important aspect of it, this reason alone is the major reason why I gave the vote I gave for this movie.

As for the other aspects, several other characters were displayed very well. Claire, in particular, who unfortunately got less screen time toward the end of the film, was voiced by the actress who had always voiced Claire in Resident Evil; Alyson Court. She had always been the character Claire that many of us die-hard fans have come to know and love, and knew her character better than anyone else. Thus, she did an awesome job as portraying Claire.

Overall, this film had several flaws, some worse than others, but together it wasn't terrible. Not the best film I've seen, but I liked it in general, enjoyed it, and I believe it was far from the worst film ever. Especially since this film isn't meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

My rating: 6/10

Another poor attempt to capitalize on Resident Evil franchise

[lionel25 · 5/10 · 7 December 2008]

It is amazing to see how biased are most of the comments of this movie. It looks like to make a good movie you need to use similar graphic cut-scenes than of the games, ad-up a few zombies, and of course bring back Leon and Clair. That should't be enough even for the biggest fan of the game! I am a big fan and having playing all the game what are they all about? Fear! There is a reason why it is called a survival horror... Fear is taking you up because of the dark, oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere. Arround you chaos, empty rooms, and limited light. In the background silence, except once in a while a few moans. To defend yourself only a small guns filled only with two last ammo... When do we get close to that feeling in this movie? Never, apart from a 2 minutes scene at the airport, which will not even be that oppressive because you'd spend your time wondering why on earth the characters are that stupid (two minutes earlier they ve been drilled to shoot on sight and in the head, and even though they are well trained SWATs, they run up to try to help the zombie guy... And later shoot everywhere apart from the head! Unbelievable... So no this movie is bad, and contrary to popular belief even worse than the movies from Anderson. Actually his movies wasn't that bad, the first one was quite descent (at least you feel slightly oppressed watching it), and the third one even though it stretched a lot the franchise was a good action movie. The second was terrible. Ruining the scariest villain of the series is unforgivable.

From someone familiar with Resident Evil....

[neomage23 · 9/10 · 4 December 2008]

It is my opinion that this movie is quite excellent for what it is...and it is a "survival horror film" - and, at that, it is inspired with by a lot of information in the RE games.

From the standpoint of a Resident evil fan, I was so incredibly frustrated with the Paul Anderson films. I mean, it's like the dude never even heard of Resident Evil. Somehow, though, he's made three films about it. He doesn't follow the storyline of the games. I really wish that they would pull the plug on "Anderson" and make another animated film. It would be especially cool if they based the next animated film on events involving background (or continuation of) the upcoming game RE5. The games Resident Evil 1-4 + Code:Veronica - all of them had interesting story lines. The books written by SD Perry had interesting story lines and were well written. Anderson is not a good movie maker.

But I digress...

From the standpoint of an avid film watcher...the animation was excellent, the storyline was interesting, and the voice acting was good. I can see how this movie might seem a little campy or bland if you don't like survival horror movies or concepts, but I liked it...a lot.

If they had added an hour to this film and filled that hour with "flashback sequences" or something similar that explained more about the background of the story I think it would have been a superb, top notch survival horror film. I really hope they make another...

-neo P.S. Nice job Shotaro Suga!

could have been better

[disdressed12 · 6/10 · 2 February 2009]

this is the third movie i've watched today,and like the other two(Bangkok Dangerous,and Traitor)i find myself disappointed.this is the first CG animated full length Resident Evil film.i found the animation lacking.the character movements are jerky and the facial movements don't sync up with the body language.i also thought the story was lacking,and the action wasn't exactly stellar,in my mind.yet i was more entertained with this movie than either of Bangkok Dangerous or Traitor.i mean it is fairly fast paced.i just wish they could have had more of the characters from the previous Resident Evil films,and with the original voices.for me,Resident Evil:Degeneration is a 6/10

Utterly Ridiculous. Fanboys lap it up, but it's just awful, i promise.

[KrankorVsPrinceOfSpace · 1/10 · 18 December 2008]

First off, i won't complain about the Computer Graphics used to make the movie. Whilst it's not even close to Pixar standards, i should imagine that they wouldn't have had a Pixar sized budget and the animation and detail is perfectly adequate for 2008, if a little stiff. The look is not the problem. It's everything else. From the toy-time storyline to the ludicrous dialogue and Scooby Doo styled conclusions, it grates on you from beginning to end. EVERY cliché' is thrown in, and i mean clichés that were old hat by the end of the 80s. Every now and then the characters have to stop the progression of the story to recap on things gone by, spoon feeding the viewer with bits and pieces of back story because the writers are just too lazy to make the premise eloquent enough. Some may say " Hey it's RESIDENT EVIL! It's SUPPOSED to be cheesy! ". That is no excuse for being as poor as it is. Or do the writers really know their target audience too well? There is so much in here to make RE Fanboys punch the air in collective orgasm toward the end with ending after ending without any let up it seems. Just as one ridiculous near death set piece is avoided, another one is piled on top once they have caught their breath. It's action for action's sake and it's so damn tired and unoriginal. You see 'jump-moments' coming a mile off, not because they're badly staged but because you can predict it before the prior scene has ended. Again, people will tell me that it's based on a computer game story, but it doesn't mean that it can be forgiven if it isn't done well. The premise is irrelevant and any fantasy element is perfectly acceptable to me as long as it's done well. This just isn't. It's soo bad. The terrible voice acting on the English language voice dub really doesn't help matters either and it may not seem so silly in it's original Japanese soundtrack, with subtitles. But it still won't have escaped that irritating Japanese tradition of having to explain EVERYthing that is/has and will happen with long tiresome bouts of dialogue that just make everything said feel stilted and awkward. If you're still reading you may tell that i didn't enjoy this too much. There was nothing in it for me that stood out, so that i could say that it at least has it's moments because it doesn't. You can quite easily sit through it because if you're a fan of the games this is a curious piece that has grabbed your attention, but it's ultimately not worth any of the effort you put into watching it :) Unless you're a blinkered fanboy of course....blinkered? Wait a minute that's what defines them isn't it !? This is just bad. Don't avoid, as it may raise the odd chuckle or too at it's expense but don't expect anything better than the story lines, voice acting and over the top situations of the computer games :)

Good action flick with some flaws

[patrick-91640 · 6/10 · 13 May 2021]

I am usually not that into animated films, but the ones from resident evil got me right from the start. A good Franchise changes almost everything.

But to be honest Degeneration is the first and weakest one to me. Yes, it is as close to the source material as the other. Yes, you have good action, monsters, and so on. Yet, at the same time you have some dated animations and much worse some seriously bad characters. Most prominent of which is Angela. No purpose in this movie after all except starring and looking good. Sorry, but there's no need for that in a RE movie.

All in all a decent movie but you haven't missed much if you skip it.

Zombie/Monster Action

[Pairic · 7/10 · 7 May 2021]

Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008): Japanese 3D animated film, based on the original game rather than the live action film series. Characters from the games like Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield appear. Indeed the shoot them up style is game-like at times. There is a coherent narrative though, starting with a Zombie outbreak at an airport due to the T-Virus. Plenty of corrupt and scheming politicians and PharmaCorp executives, Special forces combattng Zombies and terrorists. But who is behind it all? Some good conspiracy tropes along with action, especially when the G-Virus is released resulting a human-monster hybrid. Directed by Makoto Kamiya from a screenplay by Shinji Mikami. On Netflix. 7/10.

Return of Claire and Leon

[redtiago · 6/10 · 9 January 2022]

Spin-off of the famous and homonymous game in animated feature film.

Well-designed, faithful to the original product, not fabulous, far from it, but entertaining.

Returning to reunite two main characters of the game, Claire and Leon for the delight of the fans. Technically well done, a minimally interesting plot/script altought somewhat predictable.

It doesn't bring anything new, but it doesn't spoil either.

I recommend it to fans of the game and the cinematic saga.

A movie done its job

[icecap · 7/10 · 14 December 2008]

I saw the movie in NY premiere. In the beginning, I didn't dare to expect much because the live action version is too disappointing, but fortunately the CG version regains its feelings and reputation. It's a fan movie though, if you're the fan you will enjoy it, definitely; if you're not, you probably can't find much fun with it.

It's not a corny zombie movie, which is where it's good. The movie doesn't waste much time to describe how they beat or shoot or kill zombies. It focuses on story itself. This time biohazard is not just a biohazard, it's a war about opportunists, terrorists and market opportunity. The movie successfully combine T & G virus storyline into it. This is the best part. The story somewhat connects the RE5 in the end. It's like a tie-in between RE4 and RE5, also like RE2 sequel. Characters like Angela, Rani and Curtis are corresponding to Ada, Sherry and William. I think RE2's supporting characters are better. Too bad this time Ada doesn't get chance to show up.

CG part has its pros and cons. The environment and the clothes are excellent. However, the key element such as characters' "acting" is way too bad. Their facial expression is horrible, especially their "staring". Usually you'll find they're looking at the wrong way. If comparing men and women, women did the worse job. Claire is the worst. She the main character who should lead the performance, but her acting is just failed. Leon only has one expression: No expression. Since his face has been done another plastic surgery by CAPCOM, he's not cool anymore. His personality gets thinner, too. You can hardly feel something for this guy. Angela is a plastic doll. I don't just mean her face. She's like a B-movie mark: A woman with courage but always needs somebody to save. A character for decoration.

Degeneration is an out-and-out Resident Evil movie. It's done what it should do on screen, which I appreciate, but sadly, it doesn't develop more things about characters than they do in the game. Characters are still like they're "playable". Even if it's not a game, you can imagine when it becomes a game, what it is going to be like. If there's a sequel, I hope they can spend more time on delineating characters, making them more individual, giving them more emotional degrees. The way they present characters in this movie is just too flat. The voice-over needs to improve too. They still sounds like they're in the games, which is another reason those characters can't depart from "gaming" feeling.

pretty freakin sweet.

[oblong127 · 8/10 · 2 July 2009]

while i was slightly disappointed (as others were, i see), that the movie didn't relate to the games as directly as one would have hoped, i was surprised (pleasantly) as to how much it did. when compared to the live action movies, this film is hands down the best RE movie out there. now, i have been a life-long fan of the game series and always thought, hoped, and wished that they would make a movie based on the game. and now the finally have. it's definitely a must see for anyone who liked the game in the least bit.

and now, the bad parts. while very few, the game did have some disappointing flaws. only bringing back two of the game series main characters for the story was sort of a bad idea. i mean, i realize that they didn't want to over clutter the film with small bit parts, but the could have at least involved other main characters with cameos or something. also, where is wesker? wesker's been the bad guy since the get-go and he is always behind it in one way or another, yet, he is completely devoid from this film. overall, the only bad things in this movie are the ways that a fan of the games might think it would (or should) hook up into the overall arcing storyline, but it doesn't. it almost seems like this is just another day in the life of our main characters (albeit, with zombies).

All right for fans, not so great for everyone else

[bibliomaniac_15 · 6/10 · 8 December 2008]

I was excited when I saw the trailers for this film. Finally a truly canon Resident Evil film. The impression it gave, however, and the movie itself were two different things. My view, as someone who likes Resident Evil but isn't a rabid fan, is that it does things inconsistently: Some areas shine, while other areas are quite bad.

The plot is divided into two main parts: a fiasco in an airport, a short interlude explaining the background behind some new characters, and then the final "boss battle" with a mutating baddie. Nobody really looks for an Oscar-worthy plot in a zombie movie, so the pacing is everything, and it is in this respect that the movie suffers. Action scenes tend to come in little spurts with lengthy lulls in between; from a gaming perspective it heightens from the suspense, but from a film point of view this is quite unacceptable. Nevertheless, the action scenes are quite good, and zombie blood and brains will spill, although hardcore fans/zombie movie aficionados may cry foul over the relatively small body count.

The CGI is quite good, in my opinion. The landscapes are especially pretty, whether it is the WilPharma facility or the airport. It especially shines in the few "bright" scenes the movie has to offer, but it also does a pretty good job conveying the darkness and dread that marks the Resident Evil series. People in the movie, zombies and humans alike, move quite naturally, but I felt that human faces could have shown more emotion, especially that of new character Angela Miller. The music is standard survival horror fare, but it does the trick well.

The voice acting, dub, and dialogue are another story though. Dialogue is plodding and sometimes downright cheesy, nevertheless it sometimes comes with a few quotable gems. The voice acting seems over-exaggerated, making the new characters seem really whiny when they could have been much further developed. Even old characters could have had some development; they have remained fundamentally unchanged, shoved aside to get the new characters in. Dubbing seems quite forced, line for line, making the voice acting seem even more annoying.

I have refrained from drawing comparisons with the rest of the series or with other similar films like Advent Children, but if you enjoyed either, you should be fine with Degeneration. To be perfectly honest, I believe the whole movie tried to implement itself like a video game to attract fans, but it backfired: You end up wishing that the whole thing was a video game. Degeneration is not groundbreaking by any means, and is most probably not going to be enjoyed by anybody unfamiliar with the Resident Evil universe. On the other hand, if you're even a casual fan, I recommend you give it a look. Key word: Look. Only buy if you're a hardcore Resident Evil fan.

Unrounded rating: 6.7/10

Wtf?

[Sausage_Demon · 1/10 · 23 January 2009]

Well...Managed to see RE:D today, and by God what a mess.

The live action series, while dissatisfying, looks like Schindler's List compared with this turkey.

Visually, it was OK, but nothing better than a CG cut scene from a game, the animations were stiff and awkward though. But nothing that can't be looked over.

Design was mediocre, The shining star was the Wilpharm facility, which looked lovely but the rest was very run of the mill. The G-Virus creature was crap, it looked very cartoon like.

Story was pretty much not present, at times they hint at plots, which if they decided to go deep and make a story out of it, sounded interesting, but all these ideas get is a brief mention then more mindless action set pieces roll in.

The characters were bland, more so than in the live action films. I swear they modeled Leon's personality after Keanu Reeves' acting, more wooden than a tree stump. Here is a fun drinking game, get your friends over and watch the film, take a shot every time you see Leon just standing there super stiff like he has a pole up his exit shaft. Aside from being bland the characters are also quite stupid, to the point where it is no longer believable, they are worse than walking clichés.

Now, here is the big thing, this feels nothing like Resident Evil, yet all I hear from blind fans is that this film is the best RE film ever made....with this in mind I had a look at the complaints they made about the live action films and compared them to what this film delivers:

Not enough monsters was a big one from the live action films. But Degeneration only has Zombies and the G-Monster....the live action films at their lowest monster count had more (Zombies, Dogs, Licker, Licker v2.0)

No original characters from the games was another complaint, yet the only one who does anything in the film is Leon, Claire takes a back seat to, you guessed it, a female lead not from the games....

Alice having super powers, is one of the few points I agree with, and thankfully none of the characters have super powers in this film, however some of the stuff Leon does is too much to believe ,and he doesn't have the Virus melding with his body as an excuse.

Atmosphere was one of the biggest complaints, they whined about the live action films not having the same horror and atmosphere of the games and that they were all about action. Yet Degeneration has none of the atmosphere either, it is all action, no horror so why aren't these adamant fans complaining about that?

I am a huge RE fan, have been for over 10 years, and I can say, this film fails on more levels than the live action ones do, in fact it doesn't even do right what the live actions ones did. It also fails as a film, with a loose plot at best, being overshadowed at all times by action sequences that make no sense and have been put in there just to be there, and they aren't even well done.

The people giving this movie 10/10 and praising it as the RE messiah will recant this down the track and start slamming it as being nothing more than an insult to moviegoers and a betrayal to RE fans.

Avoid this "film" there is nothing redeeming about it, in fact, this is what an Uwe Boll RE film would be like.

Appropriate Commenting

[martymoves · 9/10 · 27 December 2008]

Upon watching this film, I really did not know what to expect. My anticipations were more than met, and the storyline much farther exceeded my expectations.

I've seen many 'newcomer' opinions being thrown out there, so allow me to reply with my own. The movie was not redone to suit the English language, therefore the motions were not in sync. To anyone who judges that harshly on an animated film. I'd say take your criticism to something a little more worthwhile, as this was already a known fact, before the movies release.

**Moving on, if you have NOT played the video games, I would suggest leaving your opinions at the door, before viewing. Or do yourself a favour, find a compatible console, and play some R.E.2. It will definitely help to clarify a few things for you**

Clearly those who haven't yet broken into the v.g. scene, will not know how to take this film. Also, for those that have, don't expect ...well anything, as far as the storyline goes. Need to keep an open mind for this one.

Too many people are anticipating the past to repeat itself. This is a completely new story, irrelevant to past story lines, other than the theme and its returning characters. There are quite a few references however, but this is by no means a continuation. As Code Veronica was to R.E.2, for example.

It was a well conducted piece of work. Nothing at all far-fetched for the video game world. Entertaining from beginning to end. The lead characters portraying themselves, in typical R.E. fashion. This time around giving you a bit more of a feel for who they are, that the games may not allow. You get all the blood & zombies you would in your games, and the ever loved cut-scenes of the v.g. franchise.

I don't know that there is any relation to the upcoming R.E.5. However, I do believe that many gamers will find much speculation and possibility of continuation, upon release of the latest chapter of the saga. Having seen the trailer for the new game, and without giving anything away, I believe there very well might be. The DVD does come with a preview of the new game, which should help provide some insight on this matter. (That in itself may be a hint)

All in all, a good film. It held my attention every step of the way. Now, if they could just get the motion pictures right, we might have something a little more entertaining to watch while waiting for new games to be released.

9/10 Coming from a fan of the games. If I weren't a fan, I would want to be after this viewing. Can't wait for another.

What kind of name is Leon S. Kennedy anyway?

[phlod79 · 6/10 · 11 December 2008]

This film was clearly conceived almost entirely by people who watch too many fan movies. Which would be fine except that they have stitched together a truly horrific monster of a film from the bits and pieces they found here and there. Almost every scene and every piece of dialogue has been borrowed from somewhere else. A little bit of Aliens here ('the ship will destruct in five minutes' anybody?) and a little bit of every other cult action/horror/sci-fi film there gives us lines such as: "you're too pathetic to kill" and "If you don't try to save one life, you'll never save any!" well, duh...

It is a very good-looking movie, which has clearly been painstakingly made by true fans of the Resident Evil franchise. I just wish they'd spent as much time and effort on the plot and the script. Oh, and the characters' names. "I'm Leon S. Kennedy" sounds heroic and American because, people, it sounds like John F. Kennedy. Although I'm pretty sure that the former US president would never have introduced himself using the middle initial, it just sounds ridiculous. Handsome guy, awful character, very much like the film.

Just Awful...

[olaszt-1 · 3/10 · 10 December 2008]

This comment is not meant to be offensive for anyone, so I apologize in advance if it does.

I could not watch the whole movie, stopped halfway through. The CG itself wouldn't have been a problem, but the characters were. The characters had no facial expression at all, and were very stiff. The voice actors' performance matched with the looks and motions of the characters: empty, stiff and impassionate, it was like they were just reading a script aloud. Sound effects were poor too in my opinion. Now for the story: the 41-45 minutes I watched was boring, illogical and(for me) frustrating.

So, to summarize: awful character CG, awful voice acting, okay general CG, poor sound effects, poor story.

It may be more enjoyable for those who like know the Resident Evil games/story.

One long video game....that doesn't suck.

[kirk-246 · 7/10 · 5 December 2009]

What is it about the 'Resident Evil' movies that makes them entertaining.Is it the zombies? Is it the main character? Is it the action? How about all three? 'Degeneration' has all of those things and the result is an action-packed CGI fest filled with ugly monsters and mayhem.What's special about this film unlike the others is that this film is animated and not live action.This isn't just animation like you see in 'Toy Story'.This is top notch animation that looks too real to even be called CGI.The effects may not be as grand as 'Wall-e', but it's spectacular nonetheless.Is this movie a masterpiece by any means? Not really.Is it Oscar worthy? I wouldn't say so.Is it a film that fans of the movies and video games should check out? I think it is.If you can handle being in front of a video game look-a-like that you can't play but you really want to, then this movie is for you.

B+

Better story than "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children", but with poorer animation than said film.

[ForCenturies · 7/10 · 10 January 2011]

I love the live-action movies.

Alright, an overstatement. They serve their purpose of a woman jumping around scantily clad killing zombies for ninety-plus minutes. I can't, and don't really want to, ask for more than that. But along comes Capcom basing an animated movie on the games more faithfully that the live-action film with admittedly mixed results.

First off, let me say I've never played the games. My only experience is the live-action films starring Milla Jovovich. Now, this film actually uses characters from the games (as well as the voice actors) to tell a story in the RE universe with more faith towards the games. However, unlike another CG movie sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, one can easily walk into this film without prior knowledge of the games.

This is a stand-alone work that also integrates into a specific place in the Biohazard/Resident Evil canon. Its story is more patient than FFVII, but the two have one major thing in common - multiple endings. I remember thinking throughout both "Holy crap, it's STILL going?!" I look forward to Resident Evil Damnation, a sequel to this, and the sixth overall Resident Evil film released. It's getting a 3D theatrical release in Japan, so I write this in hope that there will be at least an American Blu-Ray release, if not an Australian Blu-Ray release, in 3D, if not theatrically released.

I love the Resident Evil universe and would buy the games off eBay if I wasn't so broke. 3.5 stars