Resident Evil: Death Island (2023) Review

This film is the latest animated action horror film set in the same universe as the Resident Evil video game. Resident Evil: Death Island is the fifth film in the animated series Resident Evil after Resident Evil: Vendetta which was released in 2017 and is a miniseries Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness which is releasing in 2021.

According to its developer, Capcom, Resident Evil: Death Island will take place in 2015. That way it places this film after the events Resident Evil 6 (set in 2013) and Resident Evil: Vendetta (set in 2014), just before Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (which is set in 2017).

Resident Evil: Death Island Synopsis

Set in San Francisco, Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield are now facing a zombie outbreak and a new T-Virus, while DSO Agent Leon S. Kennedy is on a mission of his own to rescue DARPA scientist Dr. Antonio Taylor from the hands of his captors, but the mission is thwarted when a mysterious woman thwarts his pursuit.

Meanwhile, Claire Redfield is investigating a mysterious creature killing whales in the bay of San Francisco, where the cause cannot be identified. Upon investigation, Rebecca found that the virus that killed the fish was similar to other viruses that had recently appeared.

Leon and Claire are later joined by Jill, Chris, and their scientist friend, Rebecca Chambers, in finding out the only thing the survivors have in common is that they all visited Alcatraz Island recently.

Finally Leon, Claire, Jill and Chris came to the island on a tourist boat, while Rebecca followed later to make her antivirus.

The four are shocked that the legendary prison has turned out to be a terrifying experimental site for a new biological weapon they have never seen before. Did the four of them manage to escape from the prison? And who is their main enemy now?

Resident Evil: Death Island Movie Review

Unite all the main characters

This is the first time we see all the main characters in a film. Usually they are told separately from each other. Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy are finally on the same screen after a long time, as are Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.

All Resident Evil fans must be very happy to see these five characters in one film. All of these characters have their own fanbase and it’s fun to see them all in the same frame.

Many media say that this film is like seeing the Resident Evil version of the Avengers gathered for a very tough mission. Is it really that hard for them to face, so that all five of them have to come together in one film?

The main plot is easy to guess

As for the story itself, we can already see that the plot of this film is too predictable. It is clear from the title and the trailer alone that it shows that everything will lead to the former Alcatraz Prison which is now a tourist visit location.

However, what is interesting is who is behind it all. In the end, a character who used to be an ex-Umbrella troop got depressed when he saw his friends killed by the virus and took revenge by kidnapping Dr. Antonio Taylor to develop a new, deadlier and never-before-seen variant.

The exposition of the villain is also very clearly explained and we will see the red thread of this film with the previous film, Resident Evil: Vendetta through a companion character to his main enemy.

The action scenes are more intense and the plot is not boring

Death Island doesn’t only rely on fighting zombies and other big monsters, but also has interesting and thrilling action set-pieces. The motorbike chase scene that Leon does when chasing the kidnapper is fairly good, even though it reminds us of the film The Matrix Reloadedbut for the animated version, this scene is very smooth CGI.

Likewise the scenes in prison where the actions are very tense. All of these scenes are juxtaposed with a much more interesting score than Resident Evil: Vendetta.

We will also see the characters Jill and Chris have a little more screen time than the other characters, because at the beginning of the film, Jill is a little depressed due to her past experiences when she was brainwashed by Wesker and tends to get emotional.

This made Chris give a lot of advice for Jill. The rest, when they are put together, we will continue to see them all together on one screen.

Resident Evil: Death Island Conclusion

Resident Evil: Death Island can be said to be the best in the Resident Evil animated franchise at this time. Even though the plot is too ordinary, the story is interesting to follow and not boring.

The depth of the character is also more detailed, especially from the side of the enemy. We also see a lot of action scenes where the set-pieces are also among the best in the entire franchise, especially for the score, which is now more seriously worked on than the previous film.