THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

A new T-virus outbreak has been found on the shores of San Franciso and all clues lead to Alcatraz Island where a new evil has taken residence. It's up to the mainstay of Resident Evil heroes - Claire Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Rebecca Chambers - to thwart this sinister new threat before it blooms into something uncontrollable.

MY VERDICT:

Overall, Resident Evil: Death Island is a good, well-made, exciting movie but you are only going to get the most out of it if you are a true RE fan. To start with, straight away you are going to notice how fluid the animations are and how wonderfully detailed everything is in this entirely CG (Computer Generated) movie. There were times where I was sure what I was seeing was real life, not a computer simulation and that is the highest praise a CG environment can get. The characters, the freakish mutations, the jerky, agile Zombies - it all just behaves magically and, when combined with the dynamic environments, seems solid and 'real'. Thankfully, the developers have dialled back the insane and completely unbelievable action moves from characters that plagued many earlier CG RE movies - there are some questionable sections but nothing truly outlandish which is a welcome sight. It's worth mentioning the final 'big bad guy' as well as he is also a deviation from the norm, being an absolutely massive beast and proper horrid mutation that, quite literally, resembles nothing seen in the RE universe before. The story too is quite interesting and much more intricate than you might expect for this type of movie, setting the action in the present day, cleverly using flashbacks to the infamous outbreak in Raccoon City to show the moral decline of the main antagonist, giving plausible reason to his diabolical acts. However, I don’t appreciate the story's reliance on knowing RE lore and backstory. One of the main evil characters is only in the film because such and such happened to them and it was allegedly the fault of the good guy characters. I do consider myself a fan of the RE universe but I had no idea who this evil character is, why they are there or what supposedly happened to them - it is frustrating but does not heavily impact the enjoyment of what is going on. Also, as with all the CG RE films, the hero worship continues; all minor characters, even trained soldiers, dying in seconds with the heroes - Claire, Chris, Leon, Jill and Rebecca - all escaping most situations without even a scratch. There is a big point made about how quickly people 'turn' (become flesh-hungry monsters) once infected with this new virus yet the heroes, once infected, last far longer without 'turning' than anyone else - making it hard to believe they are actually real people.