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Resident Evil: Degeneration
Perhaps not so coincidentally shortly before the release of Resident Evil 5, we have been "blessed" with Resident Evil: Degeneration, a feature-length CGI film that re-pairs fan favorites Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy (who last appeared together in Resident Evil 2, which is considered by many to be the best of the series) as they battle an outbreak of the dreaded T-Virus inside of a crowded airport terminal, while protecting a senator who may hold the key to the mysteries behind the clandestine Umbrella Corporation. The Resident Evil games have never been really notable for their stories, just in how utterly awful the actual story-telling can be. Things have gotten noticeably better with the passage of time, but the first few games are still pretty notorious for how pathtic the acting is, even in the blase world of video game cutscenes. So, in that sense, Degeneration succeeds. The CGI is well done, and the voice acting is solid enough. After you've finished the movie, you won't feel like you've totally wasted your time, which is a bit of a miracle given the track record of translating games to movies. But there's not really much of note here, either. Fans of the games will most likely be disappointed that Leon and Claire are given short shrift in favor of a new character, Angela, who is so totally generic that inclusion adds absolutely nothing to the Resident Evil canon besides providing yet another back story you're not likely to care all that much about. Frankly, the Wii game Umbrella Chronicles did a much better job of filling in the side stories for the series' major characters, and is more worthy of checking out than this straight-to-video effort. However, if you're a fan of the games, and not a nit-picky viewer, you'll still probably be able to pull out some enjoyment from a screening of Degeneration. There's enough eye candy and random zombie violence to keep most people happy. Sure, when you boil it down to its' core, Degeneration is just really a promotional tool for Resident Evil 5, but it's decent enough on its' own merits to warrant a viewing. Keep your expectations low, and perhaps arm yourself with a couple of cold beverages, and you'll do just fine. RATING: 6 Blu-Ray Information No complaints here about the transfer -- everything looks and sounds very sharp. A good bunch of extras can be found on the disc, including a making-of featurette, blooper reel, trailers, interviews, character profiles, trivia track, and footage from Resident Evil 5. Those with network-enabled Blu-Ray players can access the intenet to view additional featurettes and trailers. The Blu-Ray and standard-def versions of Degeneration are available from Amazon. |