Overall, I lean towards rating my experience with RE Degeneration a 7/10. Even when I am not feeling as generous, I wouldn’t rate it any lower than a 6/10. If I had to sum up my main thoughts in three categories below *(tl;dr version in bold)…* *General Positives:* *1.) The new world-building and plot ideas contributed by the film’s story (even though Capcom would later self-plagiarize a lot of those plot points in their more recent CGI films, seemingly doing them worse there) -* I liked how this film contributed the idea of Claire becoming more of a humanitarian worker, who can still spring into action when she needs to. I think this helps her further grow into a character distinct from Chris/Jill in the BSAA and Leon as a U.S. government agent. Since this film is meant to lead into RE5, I also liked how this film’s plot paves the way for bioterrorism to become a recurring theme in the games. *2.) Curtis Miller -* If I am not mistaken, I think it was revealed that he was not actually behind the T-Virus outbreaks and was merely framed for them by Frederick Downing. I recall that the only act he did do was destroying the facility and mutating himself with the G-Virus, so he can kill the research/government personnel he blames for the attacks and their coverup. This made him come off as a more-sympathetic-but-still-misguided counterpart to William Birkin. I liked how his G-Virus transformations eventually yield a form that is equivalent to Birkin’s G3 stage, yet still very distinct from it. And I liked his moment of lucidly with Angela, during the climax. My only wish is that Curtis was also established to have terminal cancer. That would give another reason why he does not care for his own life and potentially explain why his G-Virus transformations were more spontaneous, compared to Birkin’s. *3.) The two other antagonistic characters, Ron Davis and Frederick Downing -* I thought Davis was entertaining as a red-herring antagonist, whose personality has aged like a fine wine, with how such people behave in our current times (and BTW, he actually does get killed by Tricell during a mid/post-credits scene). Downing was pretty basic in terms of his goal and motivations, but I like how he managed to manipulate almost everyone into serving his plans. I especially liked how Downing even framed and manipulated Curtis Miller, by influencing Curtis to mutate himself and attack the wrong people out of misplaced retribution, while unknowingly providing marketable footage of a G-mutant in action. I thought that conveyed a neat theme, in which committing extreme violence in the name of a righteous cause can both damage the cause itself and ironically play into the hands of those responsible for such evils in the first place. *4.) Those two major action set-pieces in the airport and during the climax -* My thoughts are pretty much what you guys already stated. *5.) The general atmosphere, tone, and music -* I felt it struck a decent balance between the horror and action sides of classic Resistance Evil, and I liked the nods to RE2. I also found some of the soundtracks to be enjoyable, for both the action scenes and those scenes intended to be more emotional. *Drawbacks I Can More Easily Forgive:* *1.) The animation quality for its time -* I agree that the animation has not aged well and gets wonky at points. It seems that Capcom’s team did not quite get the style nailed down, until RE Damnation came out. But seeing how this is their first attempt, I am willing to grant some leeway, for similar reasons why I don’t mind how much the first “Toy Story” film’s animation has aged compared to later Pixar films. *2.) The absence of more advanced T-Virus monsters and G-Virus mutation stages -* We don’t see any T-Virus creatures that would result from more progressed outbreaks (like Lickers, Drain Deimos, Gravediggers, etc.) or more unique bioengineering (like Hunters, Tyrants, etc.). Also, Curtis Miller never has a chance to reach his equivalent to Birkin’s G4/G5 stages nor start spawning G-Young. But given how this plot’s conflict is centered around a villain trying to sell the viruses themselves (as oppose to B.O.W.s created by them) and our protagonists are stopping a string of mini-outbreaks, I thought the absence of such creatures was excused. I don’t see how those could fit into the story being told. *Drawbacks I Am Less Willing to Overlook:* *1.) The characterizations and usage of the three main protagonists being a mixed bag for me: Leon, Claire, and Angela -* Like you said, Leon acts too humorless to feel like himself. Claire has little direct involvement in the climax. And I see why Angela can come off as a “Faux Action Girl”, for those familiar with TV Tropes. While I like the part, where Angela wants to help the mutated Curtis become lucid and briefly succeeds, this comes at the cost of Angela not really being able to fire a single shot during the whole climax. *2.) The complete absence of a third monster type in the film, in between the basic zombies and G-mutated Curtis -* I previously noted that the other animated RE films (barring RE Damnation) have a problem, in which their only other monster type (besides basic zombies and the climax’s monster) is relegated to just showing up for one action scene and never contributing anything after that. But RE Degeneration does not even have a third creature type. It could have been easy to at least fit in an action scene, where Claire fights off some zombified security dogs at the airport, for example. *3.) So much of the background plot setup is conveyed through rush exposition dumps early on, which made the narrative hard for me to fully follow on my first viewing -* This is a similar point to what you guys have already brought up. So I will not elaborate further.
@@SSJdavey I think that scene might have actually happened leading up to the credits. I remember the reveal of Ron Davis' death being right after we hear report of him resigning and right before the scene of Tricell salvaging Curtis' remains. When that computer is being hacked and you see a corpse, with its face covered by a newspaper, that is Davis' body.
@@SSJdavey these kind of movie's is cheap to make especially if it was an inside production with a contract with other studies engines that's why they made 4 of them its profitable
I kind of wish the movie would have just been the fight to get out of the airport.
And me, It would have been like Quarantine 2!
Overall, I lean towards rating my experience with RE Degeneration a 7/10. Even when I am not feeling as generous, I wouldn’t rate it any lower than a 6/10. If I had to sum up my main thoughts in three categories below *(tl;dr version in bold)…*
*General Positives:*
*1.) The new world-building and plot ideas contributed by the film’s story (even though Capcom would later self-plagiarize a lot of those plot points in their more recent CGI films, seemingly doing them worse there) -* I liked how this film contributed the idea of Claire becoming more of a humanitarian worker, who can still spring into action when she needs to. I think this helps her further grow into a character distinct from Chris/Jill in the BSAA and Leon as a U.S. government agent. Since this film is meant to lead into RE5, I also liked how this film’s plot paves the way for bioterrorism to become a recurring theme in the games.
*2.) Curtis Miller -* If I am not mistaken, I think it was revealed that he was not actually behind the T-Virus outbreaks and was merely framed for them by Frederick Downing. I recall that the only act he did do was destroying the facility and mutating himself with the G-Virus, so he can kill the research/government personnel he blames for the attacks and their coverup. This made him come off as a more-sympathetic-but-still-misguided counterpart to William Birkin. I liked how his G-Virus transformations eventually yield a form that is equivalent to Birkin’s G3 stage, yet still very distinct from it. And I liked his moment of lucidly with Angela, during the climax. My only wish is that Curtis was also established to have terminal cancer. That would give another reason why he does not care for his own life and potentially explain why his G-Virus transformations were more spontaneous, compared to Birkin’s.
*3.) The two other antagonistic characters, Ron Davis and Frederick Downing -* I thought Davis was entertaining as a red-herring antagonist, whose personality has aged like a fine wine, with how such people behave in our current times (and BTW, he actually does get killed by Tricell during a mid/post-credits scene). Downing was pretty basic in terms of his goal and motivations, but I like how he managed to manipulate almost everyone into serving his plans. I especially liked how Downing even framed and manipulated Curtis Miller, by influencing Curtis to mutate himself and attack the wrong people out of misplaced retribution, while unknowingly providing marketable footage of a G-mutant in action. I thought that conveyed a neat theme, in which committing extreme violence in the name of a righteous cause can both damage the cause itself and ironically play into the hands of those responsible for such evils in the first place.
*4.) Those two major action set-pieces in the airport and during the climax -* My thoughts are pretty much what you guys already stated.
*5.) The general atmosphere, tone, and music -* I felt it struck a decent balance between the horror and action sides of classic Resistance Evil, and I liked the nods to RE2. I also found some of the soundtracks to be enjoyable, for both the action scenes and those scenes intended to be more emotional.
*Drawbacks I Can More Easily Forgive:*
*1.) The animation quality for its time -* I agree that the animation has not aged well and gets wonky at points. It seems that Capcom’s team did not quite get the style nailed down, until RE Damnation came out. But seeing how this is their first attempt, I am willing to grant some leeway, for similar reasons why I don’t mind how much the first “Toy Story” film’s animation has aged compared to later Pixar films.
*2.) The absence of more advanced T-Virus monsters and G-Virus mutation stages -* We don’t see any T-Virus creatures that would result from more progressed outbreaks (like Lickers, Drain Deimos, Gravediggers, etc.) or more unique bioengineering (like Hunters, Tyrants, etc.). Also, Curtis Miller never has a chance to reach his equivalent to Birkin’s G4/G5 stages nor start spawning G-Young. But given how this plot’s conflict is centered around a villain trying to sell the viruses themselves (as oppose to B.O.W.s created by them) and our protagonists are stopping a string of mini-outbreaks, I thought the absence of such creatures was excused. I don’t see how those could fit into the story being told.
*Drawbacks I Am Less Willing to Overlook:*
*1.) The characterizations and usage of the three main protagonists being a mixed bag for me: Leon, Claire, and Angela -* Like you said, Leon acts too humorless to feel like himself. Claire has little direct involvement in the climax. And I see why Angela can come off as a “Faux Action Girl”, for those familiar with TV Tropes. While I like the part, where Angela wants to help the mutated Curtis become lucid and briefly succeeds, this comes at the cost of Angela not really being able to fire a single shot during the whole climax.
*2.) The complete absence of a third monster type in the film, in between the basic zombies and G-mutated Curtis -* I previously noted that the other animated RE films (barring RE Damnation) have a problem, in which their only other monster type (besides basic zombies and the climax’s monster) is relegated to just showing up for one action scene and never contributing anything after that. But RE Degeneration does not even have a third creature type. It could have been easy to at least fit in an action scene, where Claire fights off some zombified security dogs at the airport, for example.
*3.) So much of the background plot setup is conveyed through rush exposition dumps early on, which made the narrative hard for me to fully follow on my first viewing -* This is a similar point to what you guys have already brought up. So I will not elaborate further.
I didn't realise there were any mid credits scenes! I'm gutted to learn that Ron Davies is dead 😩 a hero taken way before his time 😭
@@SSJdavey
I think that scene might have actually happened leading up to the credits. I remember the reveal of Ron Davis' death being right after we hear report of him resigning and right before the scene of Tricell salvaging Curtis' remains.
When that computer is being hacked and you see a corpse, with its face covered by a newspaper, that is Davis' body.
I wish Death Island could say the same. 😢
Yeah unfortunately Death Island isn't that good 😕
It was huge success brought at the box office 50M
That's yen isn't it?
Works out about 277k in £
@@SSJdavey these kind of movie's is cheap to make especially if it was an inside production with a contract with other studies engines that's why they made 4 of them its profitable