Resident Evil: Damnation

A silly movie linked with good animated action set-pieces ! It's all about the action everything else ... Not that important apparently !

As usual in anything Resident Evil, we've got villains that are so cartoonishly evil as their plans and motives are ridiculous. Every single faction in the movie is a carbon copy of Umbrella Corp. The movie is supposed to occur in the Eastern Slav Republic, so everyone speaks flawless English, even among them, but with a Slavic accent. The monsters suck. Bullets and other projectiles are small, fast-moving, autonomous plot devices that cause variable damage depending on the importance of the character their hit. In some cases, hundreds of bullets that go towards a specific target disappear midair and let him/her/it get away. In other cases, a monster that survived constant rifle fire at short range several times unharmed is killed by a single 9mm bullet.

The CGI is bad. The voice acting is bad. The lip-syncing is even worse.

The pro-American propaganda is pathetic, obvious, and omnipresent throughout the movie.

There is no script.

It's as if the director of this movie took Shoot 'em up, removed the sarcasm, replaced the hitmans with monsters and the actors with poor CGI models.

All that said, if you've seen every other umbrella-related thing, if you've played the games, and it's a gray Sunday afternoon and you really have nothing better to do, shut down your brain, and the action will be enjoyable.

I was pleased at discovering that there was a second RESIDENT EVIL CG movie as I very much enjoyed the first one which is called DEGENERATION. This however has a lot more action and a very intriguing plot to hold your attention. The CG itself is very well done and the action is non stop and very intense. Although I wouldn't say this film is very child friendly. One of the things it does better is staying true to the games. It doesn't go in THE MATRIX direction like the recent live action films did, it really stays true to both the feeling and the atmosphere the RESIDENT EVIL games are known for.

Overall, It's very cool and much better than the live action movies. Fans of the games will certainly have a blast.

This movie definitely feels like a Resident Evil title to a fan of the game series which is good for all RE players, so most of us will like this movie definitely not like those Mila Yovovych movies... The story is interesting with some small twists, the political aspects even make it nicer. The action which is very well and interestingly performed (or directed) and can actually surprise you in a good way, not like most of those new Hollywood action movies that seem to get more and more boring... Leon S. Kennedy is again the protagonist of this movie, I would choose a different guy this time but they managed to portrait him well in this animated movie, but not as good as in RE: Degeneration. The side-characters were not well enough developed and they lacked a bit in background story and ambitions. I really liked the president of this "Eastern Slav Republic", she was hot, she was well development and simply an intriguing character. Compared to RE: Degeneration this movie felt a bit weaker because I think the dramaturgy didn't go that well and too many things were left unclear which is really sad - maybe some of the games give an explanation, but that certainly doesn't make this movie better. A really interesting thing is how this story actually kinda foresaw the Ukraine/Krim-Crisis in a very abstracted way, because this movie was released a short while before stuff started to go wild over there... even the president kinda reminds heavily of the general-secretary of the Krim Republic (and internet-star) Natalja Poklonskaja which is an (almost?) prophetic coincidence. In a short sentence: Watch it if you like RE, watch if you want to see some good action stuff.

Of note, this is a movie. It will not scare the pants off of you like the games can. Understanding that it is not the game makes the film easily enjoyable.

The CGI is VERY well done and the English voice acting leaves little if anything to be desired. The storyline is simple and recurring characters are portrayed faithfully. The fight scenes are choreographed very well.

Leon seems to have more quips in this film, but those are forgiven in the light of everything else. Thankfully, he is starting to show a bit of weariness in his plight. JD steals the show for a short bit without detracting from the mood of the film. Ada is ruthless and manipulative as ever. All in all, a fun ride.

You do not need to have seen Resident Evil: Degeneration to enjoy this film, though I would suggest you see it anyway as it is a great film in its own right.

For fans of the video games, there is a treat to be had that is not on the cover.

This film, as well as Degenerations, are considered to be canon whereas the travesty known as the live action films are not.