RE5 Preview, PIP, Pop-up trivia, voice bloopers, profiles, interview, generation of Degeneration featurette

Resident Evil Degeneration is a computer-animated film intended to bridge the gap between the Resident Evil 4 video game, and its forthcoming sequel, Resident Evil 5. This is a film taking place between those two games, NOT a continuation of the live-action film series starring Milla Jovovich. ***

Set between the fourth and fifth main game, the film follows Claire and Leon, the previous game’s primary protagonists. The twosome is forced to deal with yet another crisis situation, an airport being the setting for most of the carnage that goes down this time around.

*** It’s hard to review a film like this. On one hand, it is far superior to anything the live-action film trilogy spawned, mostly due to the fact that it is set in the game universe, and not the movie one. Fans of the game are going to love having a movie that actually connects the two games. Unfortunately, while I can definitely put this one above the live-action film series, that doesn’t really say much. There are moments of brilliance here, but ultimately it boils down to something that is more-or-less generic survival horror. Fans of the game – your ship has come in, and I strongly recommend the purchase. If you’re anything less, it’s a rental at best. ---

Image and Sound: Whether you’re a fan of the animation here or not, there’s no arguing with the fact that this 1080p Blu-Ray transfer looks nothing short of stunning. Most of this movie takes place in the dark, and even in the shadows of the night, no details are sacrificed. The audio is a step above the DVD version as well, with this being a presentation that makes full use of lossless audio, particularly in scenes of action. ***

Unfortunately, as far as the audio goes, I do have a huge complaint – NO JAPANESE AUDIO TRACK WAS INCLUDED. This is TOTALLY UNFORGIVABLE for a feature that was created with Japanese as the original-spoken l anguage. So we’re forced to endure subpar English audio with poorly-matched lip synching. This alone is reason to boycott the release.

A handful of special features are included on the disc, and these are going to appeal to the die-hard fans mostly. There’s a preview of the forthcoming video game, picture-in-picture, pop-up trivia, profiles, bloopers in the voice acting department, a featurette on the creation of the film, and even a mock interview with Leon. Fun stuff to watch, but it’s really only the die-hard game-crazed fans that will care about this stuff. ---

Final Words: