Resident Evil Vendetta is the third animated CG film based on the Resident Evil franchise. Unlike the live-action series of films starring Milla Jovovich, the CG films are directly linked to the games themselves, serving as a bridge to fill in the gap between the various installments.
All three CG films feature Leon Kennedy, the protagonist of Resident Evil parts 2, 4, and 6. But rather than once again play the protagonist like in the previous films, Leon plays a more supportive role, with the main protagonist mantle given instead to Chris Redfield - the protagonist of the first Resident Evil game, as well as in Resident Evil 5.
Vendetta takes place between the events of Resident Evil 6, and most recently Resident Evil 7. We are introduced to Glenn Arias, the latest baddie creating a brand new virus strain for making zombies under his command. Aside from using the new strain to sell it to the highest bidder as bio-weapons, Glenn also has a personal vendetta against the US government for wiping out his fiancee and the rest of their families during their wedding day.
Anyhow, Chris has a personal grudge against Glenn after the latter wiped out the former's entire team during a search and rescue operation that took place in the mansion from the first Resident Evil game. Another character from that very game, Rebecca Chambers, learns about the new virus and develops a cure, making her Arias's target, and acting as your typical damsel-in-distress. Leon is seen as a total drunkard after his team gets wiped out on a mission. (somehow characters acting drunk and alone after losing their team is becoming a bit a staple in the Resident Evil games) Leon refuses to help at first, but after Rebecca is captured, he teams up with Chris to rescue Rebecca, as well as to stop Glenn's latest outbreak of the new virus.
If you think the plot seems a bit awful, you are right. It is. Though I honestly don't know if it's from a really bad scriptwriting, or is made intentional. This is because Resident Evil Vendetta has plenty of homages to the games. And one of the staples of the early games was the bad writing and dialogue. Thankfully, the voice acting is great, so the dialogue isn't entirely horrible.
Speaking of homages to the games, Vendetta also shows the transition of the franchise from a survival horror to an action shooter. The early parts of the film really give that creepy horror feel and a few jump scares that went really well. I'm just disappointed that this didn't go throughout the entire film as the rest was pure action. The action is great, I won't deny it, but the film would've been much better if it stayed with the horror element.
Vendetta's best comes from its overall animation, which along with the character designs is superb. I really enjoy the detail given to these characters. And yes, I find Rebecca to be incredibly cute. If there's one thing I would complain, it's Leon as he's given a major overhaul to look like he's one of the characters from Final Fantasy XV that got booted off because he's too sexy or something.
Despite the great CG animation, homages to the games, and being produced by the man behind the Ju-On/The Grudge movies, Resident Evil Vendetta doesn't look like an actual bridge between Resident Evil 6 and 7, and is more of a filler movie at best. The transition from horror to action didn't make the film any better and totally missed the mark. It's still not a bad film and you can still watch and enjoy it as is. It's just that it had plenty of chances of being a great film, and it blew it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Resident Evil Vendetta, a 3 out of 5.
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