Resident Evil: Vendetta Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Resident Evil: Vendetta Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 17, 2017

The Resident Evil live-action movie franchise may have just come to an end with the release of The Final Chapter, but the series remains a long-standing sensation that seems to have no end in sight for its video game new releases and remakes and in the arena of CGI moviemaking where there appears to be no quit, either. The franchise, which got its start on the original PlayStation back in 1996 as a third-person Survival Horror/Action game, has evolved into one of the most recognizable brands on the entertainment marketplace, having crafted a number of games and films that intermix storylines and characters and, by this point, has developed a living, breathing world of very well-realized characters and plot scenarios, culminating, perhaps, in the well-reviewed virtual reality component of the latest video game, Resident Evil: Biohazard. As for the new CGI movie, the third of its kind following Degeneration and Damnation, it's a bit more difficult to classify. Familiar faces abound, but the movie has the feel of an origins story even as it's not exclusively billed as such. It plays perhaps as more of a "what if" in the same world but regardless of labels the film delivers all of the action and zombie grotesqueness one would expect of entertainment bearing the Resident Evil title.

Chris Redfield (voiced by Kevin Dorman), known to his peers as a "hero" and "expert on the living dead," is assigned to lead a team charged with taking down a criminal mastermind named Glenn Arias (voiced by John DeMita) who has created a dangerous bio-weapon that turns humans into killing zombies who, unlike others, know the difference between ally and enemy. That makes them particularly dangerous, and little does the team know that even more horrors await. The mission fails, but Redfield does come to the rescue of a former soldier, now a scientist, named Rebecca Chambers (voiced by Erin Cahill), who has intimate knowledge of the virus and its deadly consequences. The pair then teams with a troubled, drunken man named Leon Kennedy (voiced by Matthew Mercer) to take down Arias and his virus before it's unleashed on the world.

Vendetta is a bleak film, stylistically and thematically alike. While it's as gory and grotesque as one would expect -- it's filled with blood, zombies in various states of physical decay, and packed with horrifically bloodied and mutated creatures -- it's the dark dramatic center that truly makes the movie scary. The grim core gives the movie substantial weight as the central villain is explored in greater detail. Easily one of the most diabolical yet complex and, in a very basic, raw way, sympathetic characters the franchise has seen, Vendetta's Glenn Arias stands as one of Resident Evil's great antagonists, a deeply flawed man to be sure but one who seeks retribution and revenge for a past wrong and a broken heart, literally and figuratively if one looks at it the right way. Reprehensible yet strangely relatable at the most fundamental core level, the enemy's humanity adds several layers of depth and intrigue to the film that so many similar movies are often lacking. Kudos to the writers for creating a living, breathing villain rather than a simple foil and basic propellant for the violence, gore, and gunfire.

Certainly, though, that violence, gore, and gunfire play a major factor in making the movie an entertaining and enjoyable ride beyond the well-versed core narrative. The movie is nasty in a good way, complex in its depictions of violence and unafraid of not necessarily pushing envelopes -- the zombie genre has been pushed about as far as it will go -- but embracing the mayhem and gore but folding it into the film rather than making it a centerpiece. The violence compliments the story and the story the violence. It's a harmonious little project that's been smartly assembled from familiar pieces and new ones as well, making it well worth any franchise fan's time. Add in terrific digital animation that's cutting edge and looks like a top-of-the-line modern video game cut scene (if not better), supported by quality voice work, and Vendetta can certainly stand up in quality to any of the Resident Evil films, live action or its digital predecessors, and makes a nice compliment to the ever-evolving and expanding video game universe as well.

Resident Evil: Vendetta Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The digitally created Resident Evil: Vendetta is often a rather bleak movie, its beginning certainly awash in shades of gray, blue, and green, but that doesn't prevent this 1080p Blu-ray from revealing most of the inherent robustness the digital animators have painstakingly placed in the movie. Environments, no matter how well or poorly lit, are often very well defined, detailed to the finer points but always giving way to superior textures along the way, whether grotesque monster gore and shape, human skin, or heavily textured tactical gear. Colors, particularly blood red but plenty of less intensive support shades, find a satisfactory level of vibrancy and accuracy, though the movie is largely toned down to favor its darker, more inhospitable feel. The digital animation does bring some issues with it, including no shortage of shimmering lines and jagged edges. The sequence in which Rebecca Chambers is introduced is probably the best example. Various surfaces shimmer and her shoulders are clearly stair-stepped. Fortunately, such issues, while fairly commonplace, are not often so intensive to completely distract the viewer; the aforementioned sequence is probably the worst offender, but for the bulk of the movie it's not a major problem.

Resident Evil: Vendetta Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Resident Evil: Vendetta, typical of Sony's releases with a joint UHD, features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack on the Blu-ray while the UHD receives a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. While Atmos is the superior track, the 5.1 presentation found here is not far behind. All it lacks is a bit of heft and some added room and more capable and fuller directional effects. That said, everything the 5.1 track has to offer is fine. Action scenes explode with chaotic gunfire erupting with substantial low end support and plenty of bullet movement, pinpoint impact, and flying debris. The soundstage is shredded, and severely, at several junctures in the film. Additional discrete effects play central to the track, and even quieter moments open up with a well-realized sense of place around the listener. Amongst the best, and most terrifying, elements is the way zombie moans and groans perfectly shuffle about the stage. Music is well spaced, intensively penetrating the stage while maintaining tight accuracy. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized. This is a terrific track from Sony, but the studio does need to start offering the best track on its Blu-ray discs, too.

Resident Evil: Vendetta Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Resident Evil: Vendetta contains supplements across two Blu-ray discs. Oddly, no digital copy code is included with purchase.

Disc One:

• Audio Commentary: Director Takanori Tsujimoto, Executive Producer Takashi Shimizu, and Writer Makoto Fukami discuss the film in detail, including all of the basics: story, characters, development, structure and pace, and plenty more. In Japanese with English subtitles.
• CGI to Reality (1080p): A two-part feature. The Creature (13:55) and Designing 'Vendetta' (10:10) explore crafting some of the film's key visuals in great detail. In Japanese with English subtitles.
• Motion Capture Set Tour with Dante Carver (1080p, 11:03): Carver gives viewers an intimate tour through the world of motion capture and explores how it works on the set of Resident Evil: Vendetta. Several interview snippets are included, some humorous. Mostly in English with some Japanese, all of it subtitled.
• Stills Gallery (1080p): Images consist of conceptual artwork for the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 1:38).
• Teaser Trailer (1080p, 1:40).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Disc Two:

• BSAA Mission Briefing: Combat Arias (1080p, 5:06): A detailed military ops assignment briefing (essentially a story summary) that tells Arias' story and lays out the mission to bring him down. It also looks at villains Diego and Maria Gomez and heroes Chris Redfield and his team.
• Designing the World of 'Vendetta' (1080p, 3:31): A discussion of the movie's structure, characters, digital animation, faithfulness to the game series, visual effects and shot composition, and more. In Japanese with voice English translation overlay.
• Tokyo Game Show Footage 2016 (1080p, 13:06): The film's creative team addresses the crowd and fields some questions about the film with a trailer kicking things off after introductions. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Resident Evil: Vendetta Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Resident Evil: Vendetta is certainly no classic or anything of the sort, but it's a surprisingly well-rounded digitally animated film that features a harmonious blend of operatic violence, disgusting (in a good way) creature and gore effects, and a quality, deep and detailed villain who more than any other component makes the movie stand taller than others of its kind, live action or digital. Sony's Blu-ray is good, offering solid 1080p video, excellent DTS-HD Master Audio (which should be Atmos), and two discs worth of supplements. Recommended.