Color me surprised. This new Resident Evil animated film is the best of in the series. And I’m not just talking about the other CGI animated adaptations but the live action ones too. Though, to be fair, that’s a pretty low bar to hurdle.

In this one, Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, and Jill Valentine team up to investigate a bioterror outbreak in San Francisco. The trail leads them to Alcatraz (aka Death Island, I guess) where they run into Leon (S) Kennedy on his own mission. Together they battle… well… you know the roster: zombies, lickers, giant mutant monsters, etc.

This is a genuinely good action/horror/sci-fi hybrid that will be very familiar to fans of the games. It’s story is a great big excuse to fight zombies, lickers, and giant mutant monsters, sure… it’s a great big puddle of pulp just like a Resident Evil movie should be.

The talky bits could have used a bit of a goosing, especially in the second act villain reveal which was a little slow. Maybe a little more of that campy dialog from some of the games would have helped. The action set pieces make up for it though. They are shot with smooth, easy to follow animation with limited cuts, giving us time to admire the zombie shootin’ action.

The voice actors are doing fine work and the dialog gets the job done. I even laughed at Leon’s wisecracks… felt very on-brand. If the bad guy feels a little out of central casting, I guess that’s pretty on-brand too.

Something must have been in the water since this worked, beating out all the live action and CGI adaptations easily. Good, solid, action and smooth (if somewhat sanitized) animation should satisfy fans of the franchise.

Score: 84