Resident Evil Degeneration Blu-ray

Resident Evil: Degeneration, the first fully CGI animated feature in the dystopian horror series, presents fans of the game and its subsequent movies with all the things they crave the most: loads of gunplay orchestrated by an attractive heroine, a labyrinthine plot honeycombed with conspiracy theories and government double-dealings, and most importantly, an army of plague victims hungering for human flesh. The CGI animation certainly allows for richer, bloodier and more explosive scenarios than in the live-action features, and if the story itself--RE heroes Clare Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy must fight their way from a zombie-infested airport to the pharmaceutical company that hides a key to the virus, as well as a monstrous new enemy--is so densely plotted as to warrant multiple rewinds, the picture knows it can be simply enjoyed as a player-free version of the game that inspired it. Vocal talent is probably Degeneration's weakest link (the already purple dialogue sounds extra cringe worthy in the mouths of the cast (which includes several voice actors from the games)) with a subplot involving Leon and fellow agent Angela Miller running a close second. However, neither is so detrimental to fans' enjoyment that it might prevent them from checking out the latest--and, it should be noted, not the final--chapter in Resident Evil's complex and gruesome mythology. --Paul Gaita