Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Whilst not as good as 'Degeneration', this second instalment in the animated series remains true to the source material and is able to capture the gritty dark environment that the video game franchise is famous for. Leon infiltrates a former soviet state to investigate a rumour that its president is releasing Bio Organic Weapons (BOWs) in their civil war. Immediately the personality from the likes of Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong are replicated to precision. His masculine heroic traits ooze through the screen and Wong remains enigmatically mysterious. The story was linear much like the video games yet embedded within are various exciting scenes that replicate the aesthetic appeal of its source material. Consistently switching between first person perspective, still corner shots and other cinematic directing styles that prevents this from simply being a long cutscene. It feels like a film, incorporating the differing camera techniques that imitate the various games, creates a true incarnation. A myriad of familiar enemies and plot points, such as Las Plagas, Lickers and Tyrants, will appeal to the fans of the games whilst remaining accessible to newcomers. Plus, the female president isn't just used as an antagonistic puppeteer, she actually has her own combat scenes! Film is complete. Voice acting was functional although occasionally monotonous and some of the character facial expressions feel like blank canvas'. The narrative follows a familiar structure to 'Degeneration' which comes across as uninspired, especially the final boss fight which looks incredibly polygonal given the outstanding CG motion effects throughout. The supporting characters, such as JD, could've used some more development to enhance that emotional investment. However, it's an adventurous exciting zombie flick that sits well as a prequel to 'Resident Evil 6', despite its basic execution and familiarity. Lastly, let's just appreciate Leon's incredibly silky hair and how it sways in the gentle breeze...

The Biohazard / Resident Evil universe invites with an animated story focused on the well-liked character of Leon S. Kennedy (Matthew Mercer). In a made up Slava Republic (Why do they always have to think stuff like this up? Why not just keep it real?) infighting between the presidential forces of Svetlana Belikova (Wendee Lee) and resurgents led by Alexander 'Sasha' Kozachenko (Dave Wittenberg) causes the latter to dabble with Bio-Organic Weapons of the Umbrella Corporation. By attempting to utilise the Plaga parasite to control lickers the tide of civil war is supposed to turn. This situation causes the appearance of Ada Wong (Courtenay Taylor), who undoubtedly possesses hidden motives. Meanwhile Leon tries his best to contain the BOW use before the situation explodes out of control...After a severely disappointing Resident Evil: Retribution, the animated feature comes off as a breath of fresh air. While this isn't entirely true, as voice acting ranges from over-exuberant to wooden and the dialogues churned out for story purposes as unanimously god-awful. That said the plot itself remains enticing, although without much of a survival thriller feel to it, more inclined towards all out action focused on biological warfare than stricte Zombie genre stuff. And what action it is! The movie is infested mostly by Majini and some gruesome Lickers, but the best comes in the form of the appearance of Tyrants. The ultimate Resident Evil foe appears with intended mayhem, delivering an absolute epic battle featuring exploding trucks, tanks and Tyrants vs hordes of Lickers, which make up for the atrociously shallow scriptwriting.The much appreciated CGI animation is riveting - a pure feast for the eyes, full with mind-blowing details and captivating sequences.

Loved it. The animation was superb, much better than the previous film. The story depart a bit from the original resident evil style, no zombies , but rather Lickers and some character from resident Evil 4 (the video game); however, sticks to the scene that a Resident Evil movie should be. Some people might not consider this a zombie movie but hey, are such thing as real zombies, is not a documentary that should be accurate is it's a movie and it's a fun movie with great action scenes, especially when the president lady fights Leon and Ada. The battle with the Nemesis was excellent. Excellent movie. Can't wait for another one. I highly recommended it.

This is an accurate review in reaction to the fake shill reviews posted by people paid to do so.Wow! I wish this film was at least an improvement on the last animation or something less Mila J. but no it is DUMB DUMB DUMB with a capital D.I am a big resident evil fan, not a fanboy but someone who has played all the main series games and even is quietly enjoying no.6 as we speak and the issues with this film are very similar to those of that game which currently causing all types of mixed feelings across the gaming world. If you have seen the trailer then you are already sold as it simply looks awesome. The animation is fantastic if you like video games which is what this is, a glorified video game with POV camera angles and the exact same characters as the latest game and many of the locations and monsters are the same...exactly which is clearly a tie in of sorts to help cross promote each other. This is no Pixar but it is pretty sweet to look at from beginning to end which in itself will sell the film to many but.....BIG BUT the story, plot, script, dialogue etc. is simply not there or what is in its place is truly DUMB and makes little to no sense and anyone who has any type of understanding how the world works or even basic law enforcement or even small communities or hell human nature will be constantly saying 'Okkkkkk, mmmmm but what about...um...okkkk this makes zero sense...what the hell???!!!???'. I think the appalling them tune says it all....'I am broken like a marrow...' or maybe Leon Kennedy says it best when he says, 'we need to go on even without any limbs!'. So from the latter maybe you get an idea of the quality of the writing and why this films falls flat on it's face.The film has all the ingredients to be as good or superior to the last one which I thoroughly enjoyed as an airport is a fantastic place to have a zombie outbreak. Though Damnation is literally damned from the outset due to the incredibly naive and childish writing. You would think if you put LEON S MOST POPULAR RES> CHARACTER EVER KENNEDY and ADA HOT AS HELL WONG you would it would equal instant cult status but sadly even with these fan favs. the film plods along with cliché lines and predictable twist, if any, and every scene looks like a new location in a game but this is a film and ironically the game is being heavily criticized for the opposite reasons.The music / sound doesn't help either as the soundtrack ranges from non existent to boring to awful USA rock tracks by Japanese singers who do no understand what they are singing etc. and the sound is just uninteresting and creates little to no tension or scares as this may be a horror franchise which became an action horror franchise and ended in just action which then became a talky drama.The above is another serious issue which undermines all the beautiful animation and wonderfully deep pool of resources the franchise has built for itself over the last ten plus years. What type of film is this and who is the audience as the intelligence level would presume it was for 12 year olds but the occasional blood letting (zero sex and little gore) would suggest at least 15+. Of course both female characters (there are only two, maybe three) get their clothes off and reveal a boob and the third girl is literally a sexy zombie cheerleader with a nasty case of the Zombies...actually there is one more and she stays fully clothed at all times but she is only on screen for maybe 1 min?. While the male leads (which are plentiful) keep fully dressed and kick ass and save everyone though Ada does her bit...with her boob out.Now I don't have an issue with sexism in a film aimed at male teen fan boys but still it is kind of lame and offensive and actually very Japanese and there is a feeling of misogyny throughout the film in my opinion. Overall it was utterly forgettable and horribly predictable and ultimately irrelevant and should have never been made except to cross promote the new game which I would recommend as I am loving it though it is more action evil then resident. If you need a Res fix rent or buy the previous installment or play the new game as it is practically a film anyway. Avoid this mess if possible but if you actually need to see it just make sure you don not pay for it and if you do then make sure you send a written letter of complaint to the makers to prevent this travesty from reoccurring! 5/10 - 5 for the animation and the franchise. Thank you for reading.