Resident Evil: Damnation

Title: Resident Evil: Damnation
Director: Makoto Kamiya
Released: 2012
Starring: Mathew Mercer, Dave Wittenberg, Courtenay Taylor, Wendee Lee, Val Tesso, Robin Sachs, Salli Saffioti

Plot: Leon S. Kennedy (Mercer) enters the Eastern Slav Republic to investigate rumors of Bio-Organic Weapons (BOWs) being used in the civil war currently dividing the country

Review: Following on from Resident Evil: Degeneration and taking place prior to Resident Evil 6 and with director Makoto Kamiya back in the directors chair after helming the first film and thankfully learning from his mistakes and now with Shotaro Suga providing a script in one of his rare departures from writing for anime series including Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Blood+. 

Heading to Eastern Europe for this latest outing which sees the return of Las Plagas the parasites which first appeared in Resident Evil 4 replacing the T-Virus but still continuing the body horror which certainly is in full effect here with plenty of exploding heads and swirling tentacle as Leon finds himself in the midst of a civil war in the fictional Eastern Slav Republic were the President Svetlana is also running her secret bio-organic weapons program. This change of location is certainly a welcome one much like the freedom to play around the lore that Suga’s script brings to the film not to mention the fact that this actually feels like a film rather than an extended cut scene in the game which was one of the biggest issues with the previous film. 

Compared to the personality void Leon was in Degeneration thankfully this is not the case here with veteran voice actor Matthew Mercer giving him a much needed personality overhaul so that he’s an actually enjoyable character to follow this time.

Joining him this time is series favourite Ada Wong who once more seems to be playing both sides like the catwoman of the Resident Evil-verse as only further added to by her hinting at romantic connection between them. Ada though here really gets a chance to shine not as well as showing off her resourcefulness which only adds to the fun of her character outside of being the mysterious lady in red. 

The action scenes through the film are all alot of fun, especially with Leon finding an ally in former teacher turned revolutionary Buddy who has the ability to command lickers which is used to great effect especially when it comes to the the pair facing off against a group of seemingly unstoppable tyrants which is essentially an opportunity to cram in numerous explosions, hardware and a tank all used with the kind of extravagance typically reserved for Michael Bay.

A real step up from Degeneration across the board with improved voice acting, a better script and Kamiya approaching this like a feature than a video game all making for a good time if one that’s unlikely to make it into the regular rotation, it’s still a fun time while it lasts.