Resident Evil: Vendetta has a couple great original ideas but abandons them in favor of nostalgia proving that the franchise’s best days are behind them.

In Vendetta, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) agent Chris Redfield (Kevin Dorman) discovers the bioweapon arms dealer Glenn Arias (John DeMita) has created the next evolution of the t-Virus. It not only turns people into flesh eating zombies, but the infected can be programed to attack specific targets.

Redfield enlists the help of government agent Leon S. Kennedy (Matthew Mercer) and Professor Rebecca Chambers (Erin Cahill) to stop Arias (John DeMita) from releasing the deadly virus on New York City.

Much like its predecessors (Degeneration and Damnation), Vendetta has some of the best CGI to date. However, it’s disappointing that as the third film in the CGI series there are moments where the visuals look downright awful (i.e. pools of blood look more like Smucker’s Jelly and the blood splatter effects look outdated think Nintendo 64’s Goldeneye).

Director Takanori Tsujimoto delivers tension and jump scares early on in the film, proving the franchise works better as a whole in the horror genre. Composer Kenji Kawai’s incredible score further immerses you into the terror. But after the first act, Vendetta quickly devolves into an action movie that’s even more over-the-top than The Fast and The Furious franchise (see Kennedy’s highway motorcycle chase). That being said, the action/fight sequences are well choreographed albeit excessive.

Despite its sleek CGI, larger-than-life action set pieces and having the franchise’s most recognizable characters, Vendetta manages to be worse than the live-action Resident Evil movie franchise. It takes a simple story and turns it into a cumbersome excuse to put three of the biggest characters into the same story while playing fast and loose with its own rules. Zombies sometimes sprint while other times they shamble, some characters turn instantly while others take forever, etc.

Character development or the lack thereof is another glaring problem. Redfield, Kennedy and Chambers are the veterans of the franchise, and the film heavily relies on the audience knowing who these characters are and what they’ve been through skipping any kind of introduction or backstory. Even then, the chemistry among the group is nonexistent other than The CW melodrama that prevents Redfield and Kennedy from working well with one another. Our protagonists seem deader than the hordes of zombies they face along the way. The poor dialogue, clunky exposition and stilled voice work only adds to the difficulty of being able to engage the movie’s quieter moments.

Arias is the latest addition to the franchise, and the only one who gets any semblance of a backstory. His disturbing/derange personality during an intimate conversation with Chambers makes him a slightly more memorable character. But at the end of the day, he’s a stand in for longtime, franchise villain Albert Wesker. Arias monitors our protagonists from behind computer monitors and even dresses like Wesker. Arias seems to possess superhuman strength and reflexes while also being prone to injury. Did he infect himself with the a-Virus or is he an enhanced human? Sadly, the movie’s heavy exposition fails to answer either of those questions among many others.

The odd narrative structure doesn’t help either. The film opens with a personal narration from Kennedy. About how as a child he had envisioned a different kind of life, which suggests this is his movie, yet it immediately cuts to Redfield. Note: we don’t see Kennedy again for another 40+ minutes.

The problem with these introductions is how the film bends over backwards in favor of fan service. Opening the film with Kennedy in a morgue allows for the reanimated body bag gag, which dives right into Redfield’s introduction which plays out like to the opening of the original Resident Evil game. Vendetta even pays lip service to the live-action movie, including a hallway that disembowels a couple soldiers. This is emblematic of the larger problem. The movie is more interested in rehashing the “best of” the franchise, but in less interesting ways.

As mentioned at the start of this review, the movie had a couple great ideas that would have made for a more interesting movie. When Redfield and Chambers meet up with Kennedy, there’s a line of exposition that touches on the idea of the government being as evil as Arias. Following a narrative thread like that allows for a better look into an organization like the BSAA and its motivations while exploring Redfield’s affiliation.

Another story idea in this film is the deconstruction of characters like Kennedy. The film is bookended with Kennedy reflecting on his life. Through the course of the film, he addresses how his fight with the undead feels like an endless loop. A personalized story like that would create a deeper attachment to the character while showing the audience another side of a character they recognize. As it stands, Kennedy’s inclusion in the film seems more for the sake of brand recognition than anything else.

Overall, Resident Evil: Vendetta is a letdown. It prioritizes action over story, and I realize a movie like this isn’t about a “logical” story, but action can only do so much. And if you’re looking to break the curse of the video game movie, you need a compelling story to go with the action. Like the video game franchise, Vendetta starts out strong and loses its way. I can only recommend Vendetta to diehard fans of the series. Even then, as a fan, I had a hard time sitting through this one.

1.5 out of 5

Resident Evil: Vendetta is available now on digital download. The 3-Disc 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, 2-disc Blu-ray and DVD will be available July 18. It’s rated R for bloddy violence throughout.

Sony Pictures provided Fade in Fade Out with a free copy of the film for review purposes