It's been a long time since our little Japanese folks have made a CGI feature film boasting a successful video game in the racks. To be exact, if possible, you may have seen Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within (2001). It's a groundbreaking milestone for such films to improve with less mediocrity. And when it comes to reviving the Resident Evil films, it's the salvation. Starting with the first CG feature of RE titled Degeneration, the new sequel brings something if not good, refreshing to the tables. With its eye-candy CGI and sharp storytelling, Damnation is the best Resident Evil to date.
Why does RE fans have to suffer from Paul W.S Anderson's live-action mash up? It's not just me that's saying this. We all somehow hate the franchise that this director made since 2000. We could've preferred George A. Romero's version if it wasn't because of staying too far from the video games' jaded narrative. In Damnation, we get a solid touch of the games' serious story.
The film starts with a backstory of the American and Russian's civil war. Afterwards, Leon S. Kennedy (voice acting by Matthew Mercer) get sucked it on the Eastern Slav Republic determined to destroy the BOWs (abbreviated as Bio Organic Weapons). The BOWs have a master-slave relationship with the Plaga parasites, a jelly-looking infecting organism. The Plaga parasite may introduce gamers to Resident Evil 5, where it played a huge role. But in the film, it may introduce well for the plot.
Meanwhile, another RE character Ada Wong (voiced by Courtaney Taylor) also disguises as a member of the BSAA under the republican President Svetlana (Wendee Lee). Ada's mission is to retrieve a sample of the Plaga. Other than that, she's under incognito.
Resident Evil Damnation combines what's fun when playing the video games: The story is intriguing and thrilling, the voice acting is cheesy but otherwise good, and the action setup is over-the-top. I had fun with the Bluray version of the film, the CG elements has never been this jarring. Although, the camera setups looks like it's been ripped out as game cutscenes. Comparably, Degeneration focused more on escapism, and the story looks solid as its sequel.
The movie made the video-game feel. There are scenes where we experience first-person perspective. There's no good and bad with it. Although we expect something more with the movie, other than seeing the characters do their exploit maneuver (fight scenes) to make the CG elements eye- popping without the 3D glasses. But the high-definition elements is not pretentious, it's a guilt-free ride.
The only main downside is that it is less scary than that of its predecessor. Because it focused not on the usual zombies, but on the Lickers (creatures with vicious tongue) and the Tyrants (huge stomping creatures). But when it comes with the games, it's fatal to kill. All we could do is to plead with Leon to kill it for us.
Now that my hands are down for another installment, Damnation is the kind of movie that hang RE fan for a sequel. It's a thrill ride and a technical breakthrough.
