Resident Evil: Degeneration

Resident Evil: Degeneration
Japanese release poster
Directed by Makoto Kamiya
Produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Written by Shotaro Suga
Story by Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi
Based on Resident Evil
by Capcom
Starring Paul Mercier
Alyson Court
Laura Bailey
Roger Craig Smith
Music by Tetsuya Takahashi
Cinematography Atsushi Doi
Yusaku Toyoshima
Production
company
Distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan
Release date
  • October 18, 2008 (2008-10-18)
Running time
 96 minutes
Country Japan
United States
Language English
Box office Over ¥40 million[1]

Resident Evil: Degeneration, known in Japan as Biohazard: Degeneration (バイオハザード：ディジェネレーション, Baiohazādo: Dijenerēshon), is a biopunk action horror film directed by Makoto Kamiya. It is the first full-length motion capture CG animation feature in Capcom's Resident Evil franchise.[2] The film was made by Capcom Studios in cooperation with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Degeneration made its premiere in Japan on October 11, 2008 at the Tokyo Game Show,[3] and was released nationwide one week later on October 18.

Unlike the Resident Evil live-action film series, Degeneration is set within the same universe as the original video game series.[4] The main characters are Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who appear together for the first time since the 1998 game Resident Evil 2.

Plot

On November 2005, Harvardville Airport falls victim to a T-virus attack both from inside the terminal and a crashlanded airline plane. TerraSave worker Claire Redfield coincidentally runs into Senator Ron Davis; they are forced to hide in the VIP lounge with Rani, niece of a TerraSave employee. By nightfall, the airport has been locked down by the local Special Response Team and the United States Marine Corps, aiding evacuated survivors. Officers Angela Miller and Greg Glenn are joined by federal agent Leon S. Kennedy. Claire's group is rescued; however, they are forced to leave the infected Greg. Trucks from WilPharma arrive to administer the T-vaccine, but are destroyed by explosives. Leon reveals that a terrorist has threatened to unleash the T-virus throughout the U.S. should government officials involved in its creation not be revealed by midnight.

Claire accompanies WilPharma Head Researcher Frederic Downing to their Harvardville research facility. Downing reveals plans to make a G-virus vaccine next, angering Claire because of its extreme danger. Excusing himself, Downing leaves Claire in his office. Claire informs Leon about what Downing told her, and learns that he and Angela have found the house of her brother Curtis on fire. Downing phones Claire, warning her about a man who has activated a time bomb. Claire briefly spots Curtis in the building's central garden, only for the bomb to detonate.

Leon and Angela arrive at the facility and split up, Leon reunites with Claire, while Angela reunites with Curtis. Curtis reveals the American government's involvement in covering up Raccoon City's destruction. Having injected the G-virus, he mutates and kills a squad of marines. Leon saves Angela as the atrium garden begins to fall apart, with the wreckage temporarily crushing Curtis. The computer system then incinerates the building in order to prevent the viruses from spreading. Angela and Leon jump into a pool of water to avoid being incinerated. After shooting a glass partition to avoid drowning, the two find themselves in an underground area. Meanwhile, Claire makes it to the command center, attempting to halt a biohazard alarm and open the building. However, the detection of Curtis triggers an outbreak containment method in which the laboratory falls into the abyss.

Curtis attacks them, seeing Leon as a threat and Angela as a mate. Curtis briefly regains control, telling Angela to run before losing himself again. As the sections are ejected, Leon and Angela evade Curtis, only to hang from a broken catwalk. About to fall, Curtis grabs hold of Angela's leg but is shot in the head by Leon, and falls to his death. In the aftermath, Claire accuses Senator Davis of orchestrating everything in order to improve WilPharma stock. Leon reveals Davis is innocent; making Claire realize that Downing is the actual mastermind of the T-vaccine's destruction, the bombing of the research building, and the recent bioterrorism incidents. Meanwhile, Downing talks to General Grandé, a client of his eager to buy the T-virus now that news reports have revealed its potential, though he warns against using the G-virus. Waiting for a contact to sell WilPharma information to, Downing mistakes a car containing Leon and Claire for his contact; soon after, he is arrested by the police for his crimes.

The next day, Leon and Claire meet with a despondent Angela. Leon reveals Downing confessed to being a former Umbrella researcher who stole both viruses and escaped prior to the Raccoon City incident and created his current identity. Downing used his alias to sell the viruses to a list of potential customers while researching the vaccine. Angela realizes Downing manipulated Curtis, but Claire notes that even though this does not clear his name, he wants to prevent another Raccoon City just like she, Leon, and Angela do.

Meanwhile, news reports reveal Davis has resigned from office over allegations of insider stock trading with WilPharma stocks. A newspaper draped over Davis' face reveals that another company, Tricell Incorporated, has offered to purchase the now-bankrupt WilPharma. At this point, Davis is revealed to have been assassinated by Tricell, with the company deleting all of Davis's computer files on WilPharma and recovering G-Virus samples from Curtis's corpse.

Cast

The Japanese singer and lyricist Anna Tsuchiya sang the ending theme for the film, titled GUILTY.[5]

Release

The film received a limited (2-week / 3-screen[1]) theatrical release in Japan on October 17, 2008.[6] It also had a limited theatrical release in the United States, opening on November 13 in New York City and November 18 in Los Angeles.[7] A sneak-peek trailer of the first eight minutes of the film was also shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home.

Resident Evil: Degeneration was released on UMD, DVD, and Blu-ray formats December 24, 2008 (on December 26 in Japan and December 27 in North America).[8] It was later released in the European Union in January–February 2009.[6] More than 1.6 million home video copies were shipped as of September 2010.[1]

The special features include: the "Generation of Degeneration" featurette, character profiles, voice bloopers, a mock-up Leon interview, five trailers, two Resident Evil 5 trailers and previews. In the "Generation of Degeneration" special feature, the filmmakers explain that this movie is in effect "Resident Evil 4.5", i.e. showing what happens after Resident Evil 4.

Mobile game

Nokia and Capcom created a game loosely based on the film for the N-Gage mobile gaming service.[9] This game was released on December 18, 2008,[10] while the iPhone version was released on May 10, 2009.[11] Despite being a main character in the film, Claire is not playable, with Leon being the sole protagonist and playable character in the game. The game takes place in the airport from the early scenes of the film and also contains enemies not seen in the actual film but seen in prior games, such as Cerberuses and the three Tyrants from Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil Code: Veronica.

Reception

The film received mixed critical reception. The Wired News blog GameLife gave the film 3/10[7] and the website UGO.com gave the film an overall score of a B.[12] It also held the score of 57% from user ratings at Rotten Tomatoes (19,476 votes).[13]

Home media

Over 1.6 million DVD and Blu-ray units were sold worldwide.[14][15] In the United States, $11,086,919 were grossed from sales of 554,623 units priced at $19.99.[16] Overseas, at least 1,045,377 units were sold, at an average ¥4,983 price,[17] grossing approximately ¥5,209,113,591 ($65,285,294). Worldwide, the film grossed approximately $76.4 million from home video sales.

Sequel

On September 14, 2010, Capcom and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced a sequel to the movie titled Resident Evil: Damnation, released in 2012. The film stars Leon, with another mystery character and was theatrically released in 3D in Japan.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Press release
  2. ↑ Resident Evil: Degeneration - Production Blog
  3. ↑ Garnett Lee. "Resident Evil: Degeneration makes World Wide Premier". 1up.
  4. ↑ "CAPCOM". Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
  5. ↑ エンディング・テーマソングは土屋アンナさん！！！：biohazardcg製作者ブログ：So-net blog
  6. 1 2 Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) - Release dates
  7. 1 2 Review: Resident Evil: Degeneration’s Boring Puppet Show | GameLife | Wired.com
  8. ↑ "Resident Evil: Degeneration DVD/Blu-ray Specs". BloodyDisgusting.
  9. ↑ "Nokia and Capcom resurrect classic franchise with Resident Evil Degeneration". Nokia. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  10. ↑ "Resident Evil: Degeneration is here!". Nokia. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  11. ↑ Resident Evil: Degeneration iPhone Review - iPhone Review at IGN
  12. ↑ Resident Evil: Degeneration Review - UGO
  13. ↑ Biohazard: Degeneration (Resident Evil: Degeneration) Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
  14. ↑ "Resident Evil Damnation Hits Theaters in October". Andriasang. April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ "CAPCOM AND SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN ANNOUNCE THE COPRODUCTION OF "RESIDENT EVIL: DAMNATION" IN 3D" (PDF). Capcom. September 14, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) - Video Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  17. ↑ "「バイオハザード ディジェネレーション」全世界で150万枚の出荷を達成". 4Gamer (in Japanese). 2009-03-04.
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