Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)

By: Justin Hopkins

**SPOILER WARNING**

So, I have found myself in a Resident Evil kick. Been playing through Code Veronica X, 2 and 3, and bits of the first. Watching randomizers on YouTube and wanted to watch some of the movies, no not those ones, but one of the CGI Movies. Three years back I even did a review on Vendetta, but for some reason, I never went back and did reviews on the other two. So, lets remedy that shall we, and start at the beginning with Resident Evil: Vendetta.

Story

The movie starts off with several news stories detailing what happened with the bombing of Racoon City and the terrorist attack of Inia. The rise of Wilpharma and the group known as Terrasave, who opposes the human testing they do and Curtis Miller being an extremist. We jump to the Airport and the arrival of Claire Redfield, meeting her friend and her daughter Rani. Who is left with her so her friend could get the car. Seeing reports on the protestors outside, There to protest the arrival of Senator Davis, a staunch supporter of Wilpharma. Meanwhile up one a plane, we see a sick passenger onboard. Back in the airport, the Senator tries to slip out unnoticed, but when Rani blows his cover, a protestor in a zombie mask starts to confront him, only to be scolded by Claire. Who is going to be arrested along with him for association, until a real zombie shows up and the airport turns chaotic. Claire spots Curtis in the crowd, before said Airplane crashes into the lobby and we jump to later. A military group called the STR has the airport locked down and everyone who was inside in quarantine. Angela is yelling at her Chief, her and Greg wanting to go in, but they are ordered to stand down, till a Special Agent arrives. Enter Leon S. Kennedy who hears their plan, tells them it will only be the three of them. Despite their protests. Not buying the zombies, till Angela is nearly bit for helping one and Greg’s overdoing firing at them does nothing. Have a reenactment of Claire and Leon running into one another and she takes them back to the survivors. Plan was to clear enough zombies away from the lobby and run out of the door. Everyone going go till Greg is bitten and the Senator knocking Rani into danger, which Claire rescues her in stellar fashion and they manage to get out. As things were settling down, Wilpharma trucks pull in. Caring the Vaccine. Turns out they had it the whole time, but because of Terrsave’s meddling. Couldn’t administer. Which rocks Claire. Leon does talk sense to her and that it wasn’t her fault, but right when he does, the trucks are blown up along with the vaccine. Turns out the terrorist behind the attack in India and here, are threatening to unleash another attack unless the truth about who knew about Umbrella and Racoon sity is revealed and that is where I will leave it for now.

Review

There is so much good things to unpack in this movie that I am not sure where to unpack. While it was very much a Claire and Leon driven story, Angela is introduced really well and keeps up with them the whole way through. Did a stellar showing the pain and conflict going on in Curtis in scenes like, before he burned his house down, he turned every family photo around so they could watch him do it. When he is in his first form of the G-virus, he is smart enough to cover his eye with his big hand. Then they had a morale side between Terrasave and Wilpharma. After Umbrella and Racoon City, can see the importance behind the good work they stand for, but at times, you can see where it can hinder the process too. Then you sprinkle moments like Claire wielding an umbrella as a weapon and reenacting the meeting for fun moments.

I love when Claire and Leon are the main character. Besides the fact that they are my favorite (Claire) and second favorite (Leon) characters. They just work so well together. Leon being your fighter and Claire being more passive who wants to look after everyone, but when pushed, can run her way through anyone. For their first CGI Movie, it was so smart to bring these two into the fold for it. Angela was a fun character who they utilized quite well. Able to create the horror of someone experiences zombies for the first time and the awful realization of having to kill what was essentially at one point a human. Opening her up and showing her in an emotional state allowed me to believe she was ready to sacrifice herself at the end and could actually see her enter into the games at some point.

By no means do I know enough on CGI and Animated Movies to talk knowledgeable on the topic. Just what I see and go from their. For the most part, I did like a lot of the work on display. Can kind of tell it was their first foray into these movies. The setting were really nice and the action scenes were awesome. From Claire catching the gun as she cracked the zombie with a roundhouse kick to the head and blew them away. G-virus Curtis wiping out the military squad and the finale. Some rough bits here and there, but the only complaint I got is with Leon. Claire looks great. So does Angela and Curtis and even the Senator. Leon at times, looks so, for the lack of a better word, stiff. Especially when he is just idol and talking to people. It is not a major negative, because they have improved his look leaps and bounds in Damnation and Vendetta. Here though, it can kind of be a bit distraction.

There were some negatives, but honestly, they were not big enough to bring up. Overall I had a blast with Resident Evil: Regeneration. A great starting point to their CGI Movies which only got better from here. Big suggestion for you to check it out if you haven’t already. Final Grade – A

As Always, I hope you enjoyed and…

Thank You For Reading.

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