It’s an exciting time for horror fans as a new CGI animated movie trailer has dropped for Resident Evil: Death Island.
The name sounds like something straight out of an 80s horror flick and the trailer features some fan favourite facesResident Evil: Death Island features Leon S. Kennedy and B.S.A.A agent Chris Redfield. Both are popular characters from the franchise who have featured heavily in the games and animated movies.
Fan Favourites
The movie is set after the events of Vendetta and seems to be set before Resident Evil 7. Fans can rejoice as the popular character Jill Valentine appears in the trailer, who in the canon storyline hasn’t been seen since 2005’s Resident Evil 5. Although, the quick glimpse we get of Jill does seem to be her likeness from the Resident Evil 3 remake. This also marks the first time a character has had their likeness directly carried over from the games to the CGI movie. Given her young appearance, this shot could be a flashback sequence. Rebecca Chambers from the very first game is also teased with her name written on the side of a coffee cup.
As for the story, Leon is doing what he usually does and is off on a rescue mission. While Chris and his team look to be investigating a new outbreak in San Francisco. The name of the movie seems fitting, since Alcatraz Island appears to be the ground zero for this new nightmare. Death Island may have the potential to be the best Resident Evil CGI outing yet, bringing all of these characters together is a sure way to excite fans.
Don’t open that door!
Resident Evil is one of those franchises that has already seen a lot of game to TV and film adaptations. There are live-action movies directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, which some love and others despise due to their lack of connection to the game material. Then in 2021, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City came out. This divided opinions with some claiming it was a fun movie that was more true to the first two games, yet others felt the characters were not represented well.
So the search for a perfect adaptation continued. Next up was a live-action Netflix series in 2022. Once again the show divided opinions as it strayed from the source material and others claimed the show was poorly written. The showrunners had hoped for a second season but Netflix axed the show.
Animated Resident Evil
While the live adaptations have left some satisfied, many fans would prefer material that remains true to the video games. This is something that the CGI-animated Resident Evil movies have been able to capture since they use the characters from the games. So far there have been three CGI Resident Evil movies, Degeneration, Damnation, and Vendetta. There was also another Netflix series called Infinite Darkness that was also animated.
While these outings have not always hit the mark, the stories are connected to the game world, so fans at the very least know they can follow some of their favourite Resident Evil characters through their next nightmarish journey.
Video game adaptations
While Death Island’s announcement seemed to come out of nowhere, it’s a perfect time to announce more RE content. Resident Evil 4 stands as one of the most popular instalments in the franchise, and it also just so happens that a remake of the classic game releases next month.
Death Island has a vague summer release, but it’s a way to get people thinking, and buying, Resident Evil 4. We have seen with the likes of The Last of Us show that TV/film releases can boost game sales. Fans won’t need to wait long to play the Resident Evil 4 remake which releases on March 24th, 2023.
