Let’s face it: there has yet to be a good movie based on the Resident Evil franchise. I mean, the less we speak of the live-action movies, the better. Unfortunately, the Japanese CGI films don’t really fare better. But since they do make Capcom a whole lot of extra money, I’m pretty sure they’ll keep licensing it out. Their latest endeavor, Resident Evil: Death Island, was released a couple of years back but it was never released here in the Philippines in 2023. So I never got to see it then. That did change this week as Resident Evil: Death Island is now available on Prime Video in my territory.

As someone who was starving for a good Resident Evil movie, it did look like Death Island could break the streak of bad Resident Evil films. It had all of the most recognizable faces from the series. Chris Redfield. Jill Valentine. Rebecca Chambers. Claire Redfield. And, last but definitely not least, Leon S. Kennedy. And they were all teaming up in one big adventure!

So, were my hopes and dreams finally coming true? Was Resident Evil: Death Island going to be an actual good movie based on Capcom’s survival horror series of games? Well, yeah, I guess… but I’m not sure if it’s for the right reasons.

Although I did mention Death Island was released way back in 2023, I’m guessing there are a lot of fans who were like me who never did get the opportunity to watch it when it came out. So, even though this is kind of an old movie, I will still be making this a SPOILER FREE review.

Resident Evil: Death Island takes place some time after the events of Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil: Vendetta. Jill Valentine, having been freed for Wesker‘s mind control, has joined Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers in working for the BSAA, a group that actively goes after bioterrorism. Claire Redfield goes to the BSAA to report a possible version of the T-Virus affecting marine life. This happens to coincide with the BSAA looking into a group of people who were infected with another version of the T-Virus. All the clues lead them to Alcatraz Island. Meanwhile, Leon Kennedy has been tasked to retrieve a scientist who was kidnapped and, sure enough, his investigation leads him to Alcatraz Island as well.

I guess the best thing I would have to say about Resident Evil: Death Island is it’s definitely a looker. Some of the faces, specifically for Claire Redfield and Rebecca Chambers look somewhat dated but, in all fairness, they’re basing all of the character models from the older CGI movies and they’re doing that mostly for consistency. However, it does look like they put a lot of work on Jill Valentine’s model as she looks exactly like how she does in Resident Evil 3 Remake. And we all remember how good she looked there!

I also have to commend the writers on how there wasn’t really any long and dull moments throughout the movie’s 91-minute runtime. The action scenes were pretty good and, while some of the fight scenes do have some CGI jank whenever someone is flipping and dipping, these are only noticeable because, most of the time, most of the fights are really well planned out. I will say there was one particular fight that I think should’ve gone on a little bit longer as it’s conclusion was very unsatisfying. I can’t really say much more as this is a SPOILER FREE review. But I do think, when you see it, you’ll agree.

Unfortunately, as the movie does tend to concentrate on all this sizzle, there hardly any steak to feed on. The plot is very, very light and filled with conveniences, such as how all of the main players get to Alcatraz Island at virtually the same time. This also means there isn’t a whole lot of time for character growth. I mean, it’s basically stated at the start of the movie that Jill Valentine is still working through some stuff after being brainwashed by Wesker. Yet all of that is pretty much brushed off once everyone gets to Alcatraz Island. It seems like a waste of good character development here.

This paper thin plot also means we don’t really care all that much about our main villain. I actually was surprised with who the villain was but only because I totally forgot they gave him a backstory during the first few minutes of the movie! Also, even though we get somewhat of an idea on how he became all twisted inside, I cannot for the life of me figure out what his ultimate goal is. It’s not world domination from what I can put together. Maybe it’s all about some warped form of justice? If it is, it’s not really told all that well. Oh, and it just so happens he has connections to the villain of Resident Evil: Vendetta. Not that it matters because, if I can’t remember a single thing about the bad guy from that movie, why should I care if he has any ties to something I didn’t care enough to remember?

The voice acting is somewhat hit or miss here. The standouts here were definitely Matt Mercer as Leon S. Kennedy and Nicole Thompkins as Jill Valentine. It does help that Leon S. Kennedy does get the best lines as he’s allowed to make little quips here and there. This allows Matt Mercer to give Leon much more personality than the rest of the cast. On the other hand, there is something really believable about how Nicole Thompkins delivers her lines. That’s amazing, considering she’s playing a previously brainwashed supercop who fights off zombie hordes on a regular basis! The rest of the cast do okay, with the exception of Kevin Dorman’s Chris Redfield. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it but there are times when he makes Chris sound more like a doofus rather than the commanding officer in charge of an elite special force.

With all of those negatives, why did I say this film may be the best of the Resident Evil movies? Well, for one thing, the other films set the bar pretty low in the first place! While Death Island isn’t exactly going to win any awards, at least I never got bored while watching it. The action scenes can get a little ridiculous and over-the-top. But that’s in line with the games wherein this movie takes place. If you were put off by the previous Resident Evil movies, I say give Death Island a shot. It’s comes off like a cheap action movie from the ’90s. And while that may sound like a bad thing, trust me. It’s actually a glowing recommendation.

Have you seen Resident Evil: Death Island? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!