Anime: Biohazard: Degeneration

Critic's Log - Earthdate: December 2, 2012. Review #23: Resident Evil: Degeneration

I
was planning on reviewing an anime film for my 25th anime review but it
seems that I have gotten a request for an anime film review from my
friend who goes by "BlackAngelReinae" because today just so happens to
be her birthday. I apologize for confusing you by this point but this is
not the movie she requested me to review. I picked this one out because
she just got into the Resident Evil franchise. I think one of her
friends is a fan of Resident Evil and I get this kind of feeling that
both of them are thinking of getting me into Resident Evil. I've already
looked into the games and I am expressing interest in getting the games
someday. I just need to get my PlayStation 2 replaced. But I did find
Resident Evil: Degeneration and I thought I'd do this review since she
enjoys Resident Evil. I guess this is a bit of a tribute review to two
of my friends. The one that goes by "BlackAngelReinae" and the Resident
Evil fan that got her into the games and possibly me in the near future.
I also want to apologize beforehand that I have never played the
Resident Evil games prior to writing this review but I have expressed
interest in playing them. I will review this movie for those that Let's
shoot some Zombie bastards and get right into Resident Evil:
Degeneration!

7 years have passed since the
outbreak and destruction that occurred in Raccoon City. Umbrella, which
is a company, is dead. Leon S. Kennedy, a U.S. government agent, and
Claire Redfield, a rescuer of an NGO Terrasave, are now caught in what
may become a repeat in history. With the T-virus spreading in the
Harvardille Airport and a new G-virus monster on the horizon, Leon and
Claire race against the clock to stop history from repeating itself.

To be technical, this is a movie based
on the Resident Evil games (obviously) but this movie has a connection
with the video games. Please try not to confuse yourself with the
American Live-action film series because Resident Evil: Degeneration is
not part of that continuity. According to some sources, this movie takes
place after Resident Evil 4 and before Resident Evil 5. This is a
Digital Frontier production and this was conceived by Capcom themselves
and this is the only Resident Evil movie that is canonical to the games.
This is also a Capcom Studios production and I will say that the CG
animation does look like that it has some hiccups, I actually don't care
all too much since the CG fits in with the video games. So I don't have
much to complain about it. It may not be like Final Fantasy VII: Advent
Children, but I'm willing to let the CG animation pass this time. My
only complaint is how Leon looks in the movie. At first I thought Leon
looked alright, but when I researched the games, I found that Leon looks
different than Resident Evil 4 and that's my only complaint.



The music by Tetsuya Takahashi is kind
of an interesting one to talk about. The music I guess is okay, but
Tetsuya Takahashi is an interesting case because he worked on games such
as Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Xenogears, and
other games. He never composed music for any of those games and I kind
of wonder why that he was chosen to compose the music for this movie.
It's really beyond me to ask why this would seem to be a good choice. I
guess it's nice that this guy is composing music for a video game movie
even though that is not in his forte. The music is ok but I do think it
could have been better because I don't think the soundtrack is too
memorable to say the least. Even if the music isn't all that great, it
does not hurt the film's overall enjoyment.





When
it comes to voice casts, You're gonna have stick with the dub on this
one because apparently there is a Japanese version but us Americans only
have this movie in English. Which I guess can be a problem since
lip-syncing would be spot on in Japanese in which the dub found it
difficult to do so they just did what they could do. However, since we
get the games in English, I guess it wouldn't make a big difference
since the dub is well-performed for the most part. Paul Mercier and
Alyson Court do reprise their roles as Leon and Claire in this movie to
fit in with the video games since this movie is labeled as "Canonical"
with the games. Laura Bailey is pretty good as Angela and Steve Blum
really sounds like he had fun playing a tough guy that gets to use a big
gun. Crispin Freeman plays a really interesting role as Frederic. Roger
Craig Smith is also nice to hear as Curtis. Mark Hamill...*Record
Scratch*, Oh wait a second, it's Michael Sorich that plays that slimy
politician, Senator Ron Davis. At first when I heard that Senator's
voice. I really thought I was hearing Mark Hamill in the movie. Michael
Sorich is pretty good in his role. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was the one in
charge of the ADR director and that may not sound like much but she was
the ADR director for dubs such as Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, and
Naruto. This dub is pretty good overall.






As far as characters go, Leon is kind
of a badass in this movie, Claire is nice and can kick ass. I really
have no comment on Angela in this movie because I feel that Angela was a
bit dense throughout this movie and because of convenience, Her brother
is the main baddie in this movie and she somehow stands there when her
brother turns into a monster (Which I don't blame her). Angela is a bit
underdeveloped and could have had better character development . Greg
Glenn is alright since he only sticks around for a half hour or so.
Frederic was a bit mysterious in somewhat of a good way. Ron Davis is a
stereotypical asshole politician. Rani is a character that does show up
from time to time after the first 10 minutes and I almost have no
comment about her since this movie is her only appearance and she
doesn't play much of a big part in the central plot. The characters are
cool or nice I guess but after doing more research on the games, I will
agree that Leon is a lot different in personality compared to the games
and that's where I think this contributes to the big problem in this
movie. He sounds like he's way too removed from the situation that is
happening a lot and sounds like he had something shoved up his ass. I
don't think this happened in the fourth game while I did research it.
Claire on the other hand is done right for the most part except for the
fact that she's underused. She does kick some ass for a moment and then
gives her pistol back to Leon despite the fact that she's in danger and
then later in the movie, her leg gets wounded and has trouble walking
normally. There is an odd moment that Claire has and that is during the
airport scene when she's telling a security officer to run away after
shooting a zombie instead of telling him to shoot the zombie in the
head. The big problem that I think this movie has is that Leon seems to
be the only one that knows about the Raccoon City incident which is
regarded as an infamous incident and he's telling this to special
agents. Let's think over this, would these special agents know
everything about the Raccoon City incident since it's an infamous
incident? Another thing that's off is that Leon tells these agents to
shoot them in the head and they never shot any of them in the head *Slap
Facepalm* Especially one scene where Angela shoots one zombie in the
freaking kneecap. Gee, it seems those special agents didn't understand
the intel that Leon gave them to just SHOOT THEM IN THE DAMN HEAD!. The
characters are a bit mixed if you compare this with the games.

Another problem I have is the pacing with
the story. There's a good chunk in the middle as well as the start of
the movie, but there are scenes that just slow down the movie. On the
bright side, there is a twist that I think payed off well for the most
part but nothing too mind-blowing. But considering the story for the
movie, it is pretty average and it's not really all that special.
Another problem I could see is that there are a few stereotypes in the
movie. I will say that this is worth checking out if you are a Resident
Evil fan. This movie is a lot better than the crappy live-action
Resident Evil movies.





If there are any people that actually
like the live-action Resident Evil movies, I want to point out that what
I said about those movies is not a direct insult to those that like the
live-action movies. I am not a snob while saying this, I've tried it
and all I can say is that it could have been so much better if they
would give it to the right talent. I will say that on the bright side, I
think we're all glad that Uwe Boll was never involved in this series
and if he did get involved, he would have screwed it royally for the
fans of the games. So here's what I think of Resident Evil as a whole.
I'm interested in playing the games. I am going to pass on the
live-action movies but I won't stop you from seeing it or enjoying it.
As far as this movie goes, I think it was okay.





Resident
Evil: Degeneration is available from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The
Resident Evil video games are in multiple consoles, so do a little
research if you plan on collecting the games and choose wisely because
certain ports of the game may differ. The Resident Evil live-action
movies are available from Screen Gems.

With all that said,
Resident Evil: Degeneration is a pretty average film with CG animation
that does fit in with the video game franchise that it's based on. I'm
afraid that this is the only good trait in the movie because the
characters are a bit hit and miss if you compare this to the video
games, the music may not be too special as well as the story. If you
have high expectations over this movie, except to feel a little
disappointed in some areas. If you didn't like the live-action movies,
this movie is not like those movies, so there's room for optimism on
that. The most important thing about all this is that if you are a fan
of the Resident Evil games, then I easily recommend seeing this movie
with one quote of advice, just don't put your expectations too high.

I give Resident Evil: Degeneration a 6.6 out of 10, it is DECENT!

Feel
free to... *Loud banging on the front door* I'll be right back. *I look
out the window and see a group of zombies and I run to the closet and I
grab a shotgun and a sniper rifle from the closet*

Feel
free to comment below. Now if you'll excuse me *I cock the shotgun, then
I grab my shades*, I got some Zombie Bastards that I gotta kill.

I am not a fan of the games but I know well of the events and the characters in the franchise. Allow me to mention how a non-fanboy felt while watching this movie.

PRODUCTION VALUES

-Being fully CGI and with a huge fame behind it, the expectations were pretty high. The movie did transmit the imagery from the games in a high degree. All the areas were reminiscent of locations and events from the games, which does make it likable to the fans.
-The quality of the polygons was very good, especially in the explosions and the machinery.
-Yet, in the area of the character figures it felt rather sloppy, as they moved in a fake matter most of the time because of the lack in proper physics. They walked like robots and interacted with other objects in a not-believable way. The best example in the field remains Advent Children, which does a far better job at feeling realistic (not just looking) despite being made several years ago.
-Other minor glitches is the censorship of blood and gore, as when someone is bitten by a zombie or a zombie’s head blows up, the camera moves away and lets it imply that it happened. That totally ruined the shocking aspect of the movie; probably done to make it accessible to a wider audience. Too bad; it ruined my fun.
-The movie did include several cinematics, widely used in zombie movies in order to invoke fear or excitement. It also had plenty of gunfights and explosions to please a typical viewer who expects a lot of brainless violence. Yet, all these felt very familiar to most Hollywood movies and personally I felt like I was watching a rerun rather a new movie. Because nothing was original in the way the plot unfolded. I have seen it a thousand times already and it ceased to be scary or exciting anymore. That essentially means that the movie used a tired formula of cinematics that no longer make an impact on you. Visually, it was great to watch but aesthetically it felt old-fashioned and predictable.
- The music themes and the special effects made me feel like I was watching a typical action film, so it didn’t took much time to forget them entirely. Voice acting was ok, although I have issues with how they talked and how fitting their lips were moving. The dialogues were dry and boring, with lip-sync being almost absent. Generally, it was an average treatment.

SCRIPT

If I could describe the story in a flash that would be “A rehash of what we already saw in the games.” It felt like I was watching the same events happening all over again; this time in a far less important way. What I mean:


CAST

My God, the cast was so cheesy! Goes well with the story being Swiss cheese from all the plot holes. The most stereotypical American archetypes are present and brought a bitter taste to my mouth from the very first minute I layed my eyes on them. What I mean:


LEGACY

-The name alone will make it worthwhile for the fans of the games but I doubt even they will watch it more than once, as it adds nothing new as a RE movie or as a zombie movie or even as a CGI movie.
-Visually, it was ok although I have seen far better.
-The story really sucked as it was not just simple, but also full of convenient events that forced the plot to unfold in ways the heroes had no way of knowing or preventing. I mean, the bad guy was installing bombs and spreading zombie-virus in high security places all the time, full of elite soldiers and guards on the lookout. Yet, nobody seemed to be able to take notice of a known criminal walking around in top-secret places like he owned the place or discovering any of the bombs.
-Not to mention how cliché all the characters acted, from the little Hindu girl being the only one to recognize the politician to the politician being generically acting like an asshole, down to the Tyrant spotting a tiny photograph in an area full of rubble and explosions.
-As for the action part, the movie was very Hollywood like, full of pointless explosions and shootings and cheesy dialogues you can find in a run-of-the-mill American b-movie.
-As for the feeling, it was similar to Romero’s zombie movies, which to be honest is a tired formula everyone keeps copying for the last 30 years and has long ceased to be interesting or scary. The horror genre has moved to other fields, where terror lies in the unknown, and left behind the image of grotesque monsters chasing teenage bimbos.

SUGGESTION LIST
Scary games: Silent Hill, Fatal Frame.
Scary movies: Ringu, In the Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon.
Great CGI movies: Advent Children, Appleseed.