Today’s quick review: Resident Evil: Degeneration. Seven years after a zombie outbreak devastated Raccoon City, a company called WilPharma continues to work with the virus that caused it. When a zombie outbreak occurs near WilPharma’s headquarters, Raccoon City survivor Claire Redfield (Alyson Court) reunites with Leon Kennedy (Paul Mercier), a fellow survivor, to stop the outbreak and investigate its cause.
Resident Evil: Degeneration is a CG animated zombie thriller based on the long-running Resident Evil video game series. Resident Evil: Degeneration sees the return of Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, the protagonists of Resident Evil 2, in a follow-up to that game’s plot. With society still reeling from Raccoon City, the latest outbreak threatens not only innocent lives, but civil unrest as the threat of bioterrorism rears its head.
Resident Evil: Degeneration delivers what it promises with no frills: guns, zombies, unethical companies, and government cover-ups. The plot could have been lifted from a video game, with linear progression, clearly-marked plot threads, and a few scenarios that are video game staples. The plot twists are well-constructed but lack impact. The same goes for the movie’s emotional drama: technically sound but missing resonance.
The rest of the movie follows a similar pattern, with decent execution that fails to distinguish itself. Its protagonists are refreshingly competent but not given much of an emotional arc. The action is nothing new for the zombie genre, but one or two big set pieces give it some spectacle. The realistic CGI holds up well even after nearly a decade, and the voice acting matches the games’, with passable performances all around.
Watch Resident Evil: Degeneration if you are in the mood for a competently executed zombie movie with good CGI and a slight video game flavoring. There is little in Resident Evil: Degeneration that you cannot find done more interestingly elsewhere, but its sound execution of the formula makes it potentially worth a watch for anyone looking for zombie action, series fan and newcomer alike.
6.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for competent but unexciting execution.