So for all you survival horror fans who have been living under a rock for the past few years, first of all welcome back to the surface world, 'o dwellers of the underneath. second. Resident evil degeneration is the 2nd canonical resident evil cg motion picture outing by capcom, the first being resident evil 4d-executer. This outing tells the tale of the time between resident evil 4 and 5, When an airport in the american midwest is caught in the midst of a T -AND G virus outbreak.
Things look bleak but wouldn't you know it,, all around unlucky people of the millennium Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy happen to be in the area.
Released on december 17th in japan and the 30th of the same month in the u.s (no english and european release date though...) its not long till you can all get your grubby mitts on a copy.
-however this lucky bugger just finished watching it.
My mostly spoiler free thoughts?
I went in very skeptical, studying film academically for the last few years has, unfortunatley turned me into a film snob at times. Though being a long, LONG time biohazard fan, -and that i enjoyed the live action outings (bar the first) as mindless fun for 2 hours i gave it a shot.
Now you all expect me to say i liked it but actually i really enjoyed it. a lot. coming from me thats a lot.
It starts off quite slow, and given the trailers show only a small airport i was thinking "over an hour and a half?, they must stretch this out!" but honestly no they dont. the only spoiler ill give is that the airport is only a portion of the plot and thats over with 65 minutes to spare.
my biggest gripe was that, aside from the romero zombies and the g virus mutation you've all seen in the trailer, it seems the t virus is much more tame nowadays and cant be arsed to create lickers or hunters and the like.
but for what it is i loved what i got. seeing claire and leons reunion was a total nostalgia trip back to the summer of '98. the little funny moments they share and in jokes- like at one point claire arms herself with a red and white umbrella and quips about the irony- make it a joy to watch for a fan, and for a regular zombie movie enthusiast its action packed enough to drag you in regardless of wether you've been a longstanding fan of the biohazard series.
graphically its very impressive, in some ways its not up to advent children's standards (the cg final fantasy movie -for the rock dwellers) and in others its better. The facial expression's, whilst often a rarity are so striking they take you out of the moment a little, like when claire winks at leon before a door closes we see her entire facial muscles move on the side thats winking. now that's attention to detail.
i cant say too much without ruining it, and i really don't want to, the fans have got to discover the little jokes and hidden references for themselves. but all in all after a slow start i was enthralled right till the ending credits. i hoped till the last 5 that there would be more monsters in it like i mentioned a few lines back but i have to say ive not seen a horror movie that ive enjoyed as much in quite a long time.
To sum it up all us silent hill fans dug some aspects of the movie, the use of yamaoka's soundtrack, the use of static camera and a great set piece list throughout. but it wasn't made by konami, it wasn't made by anyone behind the games and it was simply to make cash.
Biohazard degeneration on the other hand is a proper movie for the fans, its not a cheap rehash of ideas or a tie in- though it does tie into resident evil 5- its a flick thats had a lot of care and attention to the source material included and i know if your a fan of the games you will really enjoy this.
Now just sit back and twiddle your thumbs for a couple of weeks, -OR replay resi 2 and 4 to get with the lore again, i'm playing 2 right now and it takes me back.
just wait folks, your in for a bloody treat.
