Set between the events of the fourth and fifth numbered instalments of the hit survival horror franchise, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness catches up with the story of two of the series’ most beloved protagonists, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Leon is now working for the U.S Government after the narrative of Resident Evil 4 and Claire works for an organisation called TerraSave (which fans last saw in Resident Evil: Revelations 2) and the threat of a conspiracy to unleash a new zombie virus has the two favourites crossing paths once more.
As with the other canon Resident Evil films (Degenerations, Damnation, Vendetta), this mini-series is completely CG and, for the most part, the animation is impressive; especially for the main characters, but for side characters can often look stilted and flat. Nick Apostolides and Stephanie Panisello reprise their voice roles from the recent Resident Evil 2 Remake and they deliver admirable performances – however, where the four-part mini-series really falls down is its cliche plot points and lacklustre stand out moments. Clearly very heavily inspired by Black Hawk Down, there are some great sequences involving rescue missions and zombies in the fictional country of Penamstan, but when it comes to the more thriller elements of conspiracy and espionage, it very much feels like we’ve seen this all before – with the ending echoing a Resident Evil staple.
That’s not to say that there isn’t at least some enjoyment for die-hard Resident Evil fans to be had as it’s always a pleasure to see “Best Boy” and “Best Girl” kick-ass, yet the overall implementation of this seems rather unnecessary in the grand schemes of the overarching Resident Evil narrative. An overall disappointment for fans compared to its CG predecessors but far superior to its live-action counterpart.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is OUT NOW exclusively on Netflix www.netflix.com/residentevil_
