Resident Evil: Degeneration

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

After three craptacular Milla Jovovich movies that didn't have much to do with the Resident Evil games to start with and went downhill from there, Capcom has pulled a Marvel and started making their own movies instead of letting someone else screw them up. I don't know whether the exact same animation team and creative talent that worked on this also worked on any of the games, but what matters is that it feels very much like the games and takes place in their world. It's set in the "present" of video game series, between 4 and 5, but is essentially a sequel to the events and characters of 2. If you don't know what that means beyond the numbering of the game titles, then this isn't the rental for you – it's an entertaining action-horror flick with a lot of terrific animation (other than the sloppy lip-syncing), but I can't imagine anyone but series fans bothering to see it. Those who do will appreciate its inside references and consistency with the games, down to personality tics of the main characters. It also shares their attention to detail and silly over-the-top action scenes. This DVD is a lot of fun, and does the series right.

− January 18, 2009 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply