#bemused's post

Degeneration

This is a decent enough film, where I would say the highlight is Claire. In general, Claire's depiction over the years hasn't changed much, so the Claire in Degeneration feels more or less like the same Claire we meet even in the RE2 remake. It's a level of consistency most of the other RE characters haven't achieved. She's kind, good with kids, and determined to see justice. Alyson Court does a good job with line delivery as well, and Claire's animation is allowed to be expressive, so she's fun all around.

As for Leon, he is in stoic agent mode for the majority of the film, and quite monotone. I'm not entirely sure what happened; Paul Mercier did a great job with Leon in the original RE4, so I'm assuming voice direction itself wasn't very good. Leon's animation is also pretty stiff; his expressions are as stoic as his vocal delivery, I guess. XD

On the whole, I really like the animation of this film, though. It's obviously dated at this point--it came out in 2008--so it's like a polished version of a really good PS2 game, which is an era of animation I enjoy, so no complaints. I think everyone's hair looks nice and shiny, and outfits are fun.

At any rate, this film takes place after Code: Veronica, so Claire has finally found Chris, and it leads into The Darkside Chronicles, which I never got a chance to play--maybe if it comes to GOG?--but ultimately it's before RE4, and leads into Leon's backstory with Krauser. Basically, Leon has already been dragged into secret agent service.

None of this is really tackled in the movie, though, or if it was, I did not pick up on most of it. This is more of a oneshot film dealing with Claire and Leon meeting up with each other once more to deal with a zombie incident, and for that reason, I really think we needed a lot more of Leon and Claire actually talking to each other. Probably the most touching moment of the film is when the two of them have a moment to just be around each other and talk about how they're handling the aftermath of Raccoon City. Leon praises her for trying to help people instead of fighting the way he and Chris do. Really, it's two sides of the same coin, but it was sweet of him to be so supportive of her chosen path, and shows he is reflecting on his own path, and perhaps his misgivings related to it.

We aren't going to get any more reflection on that in this movie, though, so don't get your hopes up. XD

This movie might also be the intro of Hunnigan, but I'm not positive on that front.

At any rate, Claire's storyline focuses on her joining up with TerraSave, and her determination to save a girl, Rani.

Leon's focuses on him being the agent sent by the government to help the Special Response Team (SRT), and the relationship he forms with one of the officers, Angela.

Honestly, in terms of character development, I'd say the most important part of this film is simply that Claire continues to be awesome, saves Rani, and works with TerraSave. As for Leon, he gets the start of a romance with Angela (never continued), and he's shown that he cares about saving people, which becomes relevant in the next film.

My favorite part of the film is Claire investigating the science facility, and Leon's fight scene at the end of the movie.

I'd place this film solidly in the original timeline, not the remake's, although Leon's characterization is generic enough to fit into both. The slightly more positive/determined outlook on life matches up with the remake at least.

Damnation

This film was, in my opinion, a downgrade from the last one. I thought having Leon as the protagonist would be more fun, but Leon was not in a fun mood for the entire duration of this movie. In Degeneration, he was way too stoic. In Damnation, he finally has a personality outside of just being an agent again, but that personality has settled on doom and gloom. He does, admittedly, still have some fun one-liners. This takes place during (?) Revelations 2 and leads into Resident Evil 6, which might explain some of Leon's general downer-ness. :/

The side characters also leave something to be desired. He spends most of his time with J.D., a rebel fighter who borders on a weird mix of fanboy and serial whiner. Sometimes he was fun, but he was edging way too close to annoying. Hunnigan is there at the start of the film, but then Leon goes off on his own, so she doesn't show up again till the end.

Matt Mercer's take on Leon is pretty good, especially with line delivery, but I really ran into the problem where his take on Leon sounds too close to his portrayal of Edér in Pillars of Eternity, so it's losing some of the Leon vibes for me for that reason, although Leon is being such a stick in the mud in this movie it might not matter either way. XD

Anyway, this is one of the few times Leon is paired up with a man instead of a woman, and I feel like if this is how his interactions with men generally go, we're a lot better off keeping him paired up with women instead. There just wasn't any fun factor with J.D., and his interactions with Sasha were downright dismal and confusing. The only woman he interacts with, Ada, is also annoying, so maybe it's just that this movie is bad.

I don't know, there's a lot that went down in this film, and there were a lot of politics, but I'd be hard-pressed to tell you how any of this is relevant to the franchise as a whole outside of Leon's dwindling desire to do anything in life whatsoever. I still need to play through all of RE6, though, so maybe I'll revisit this with a fresh take after that, but at the moment: ouch.

Also, the politics are lousy. I can only assume they were considered ridiculous at the time, but today they mostly just hurt to watch. The film ends with the U.S. and Russia joint invading a (fictitious) Eastern European country, the Eastern Slav Republic, so they can set up a temporary government to bring stability and stop their civil war. I don't think I need to explain why everything about that sent shivers down my spine.

But, focusing back on Leon, the part of the film I really didn't get was his final exchange with Sasha where he stops Sasha from committing suicide, which I wrote down in the hopes it might somehow make more sense to me:

I'd feel the same way if I was you. But the option of taking our own lives no longer belongs to us. Once we start using these [guns], we owe it to the people who died alongside us. We have to continue living. Even if it means living the rest of our lives without the use of our limbs. That is my answer, and your answer, buddy.

There is exactly one part of this monologue that I get: Leon sees himself as trapped in his job, his position in life, and he knows he's not living his life to its fullest (living without his limbs, in other words). He also feels a responsibility to keep going, to not kill himself, because of the people around him he's fought alongside. I'm sure Sherry plays a part in this, since he's taken it upon himself to keep her safe from the government (information that does not get nearly enough focus in the actual games).

What I don't get is why he then shoots Sasha, and condemns him to using a wheelchair the rest of his life. Is it punishment for Sasha failing to save his people? His friends? Or maybe for releasing the virus in the first place? I have no idea, but Sasha technically saved his life. Seems like lousy repayment, even if Sasha technically started a lot of these problems in the first place. Also, Sasha was infected. How is he not infected by the end of the movie?

Again, if this is how Leon's interactions with men are going to go, we need to keep him around women. XD

Hunnigan makes a reappearance at the end, where we see her and Leon talking outside of work for a change, although it looks like she might actually still be on the clock, so she's taken it upon herself to answer Leon's angsty phone calls even when she has other things to do, which is a noble effort. She's mostly defending the government, though, insisting they (the DSO?) didn't know what the plans were for the Eastern Slav Republic, which might even be true. I believe Hunnigan didn't know if nothing else. Leon is in full angst mode, though, and doesn't pause to appreciate that he has a friend who will answer these kinds of calls, and just comments that nothing has changed before hanging up.

Oh, Leon. Appreciate this woman who probably had to do all kinds of cover up for you after you went rogue, yet still talks to you like you're a reasonable human being.

I'd place this film in the original timeline. Leon's characterization seems to have no relevance for the remakes whatsoever. Feels a little far afield from the original RE4 as well, but I can at least see how it relates to RE6 from the little I've played.

Vendetta

I honestly didn't have high hopes for this movie after the last one, but I came away thinking this is the best of the bunch for the sheer quality of the action scenes if nothing else. This movie takes place after RE6 and leads into RE7 (kind of... I mean, that is Ethan's story, but Chris is technically there).

Everything about this movie is ridiculous: the plot is extremely over-the-top, our characters are all doing terribly, we have a villainess in a low-cut, high-heeled catsuit and some hulking monster dude as her father, some other scientist guy that wants revenge and to force a marriage with Rebecca, and yet it's also the most fun out of the three movies by far. I don't know what to make of that.

The dialogue flows way more naturally in this film, and we have several main characters on screen at the same time, actually getting to converse with one another: Chris, Leon, and Rebecca. This is already a big upgrade from the last movie. The animation is also superior to the last two films, and my personal favorite even with Infinite Darkness and Death Island out there. It's just very smooth, all the characters have a range of facial expressions, and their movements flow excellently. No weird stiffness in this movie. Voice acting is solid all around even if Leon still sounds a bit like Edér.

Leon is still in the Bad Place at the start of the moive, and is drinking his sorrow away, but he's also infinitely more entertaining about it than he was in Damnation, so I still prefer this characterization between the two. He has an argument with Chris that basically boils down to "my life sucks, and I don't want to be involved in your rescue operation" whereas Chris's point is "so?" Ironclad logic, Chris.

Okay, more fairly, his point is "we're all going to die because of this virus," but at this point in the series, I think they really need to pursue some kind of political action against corporations, implement some heavyhanded laws, all that jazz, because the corporations in their universe are next-level evil, and they just keep going. The DSO and the BSAA don't seem like enough defense against them, so I can kind of see where Leon is coming from.

Regardless, Rebecca calls them both selfish, gets them on board with everything, and is promptly kidnapped. From this point onwards, it's basically nonstop action while Chris and Leon try to rescue her and stop yet another virus from breaking out, and the action is where this movie shines. To make up for Leon's previous dour mood earlier in the film (and the last film...) they make sure to give him the flashiest fight scenes possible, and I approve of this immensely. I think it's also the first time Leon uses a motorcycle, which is now a staple of the character.

Chris's scenes are also very cool, but notably not quite as involved as Leon's. Perhaps this is supposed to show a level of practicality on Chris's part that Leon doesn't have? Or simply shows that Leon is willing to do completely insane things to save the day once he's on board with the mission? Maybe both.

The weakest part of this film is simply that once Rebecca is kidnapped, she's really not given much to do. :/ She has some interesting dialogue with the main villain, but I would have preferred a little more action on her part as well to better fit in with the fellas. It wouldn't have to be at the level of insanity those two are engaging in--she's a medic and a scientist after all--but maybe a solid escape effort at least.

I also would have preferred both Vendetta and Damnation to depict our heroes as caring even a little bit about minimizing casualties. This movie came out in 2017, which is right around when we all started caring about that sort of thing (I feel like talk about the insane casualty rate of action movies started up around 2013 with Man of Steel), but not yet when there was a big shift of any kind, and video games (or movies based off them) are probably not where we're going to see a ton of realistic logic on this front, but I still find it noteworthy how the Leon of Degeneration went from insisting he save anyone he could to Damnationwhere, fittingly, he doesn't give a damn, to Vendetta where he and everyone else are throwing grenades around in busy streets.

Yeah. The action scenes are still fun if you ignore that, though. I feel like we have started to see a shift once more in the remakes where Leon is back to caring about saving as many people as possible, so I guess we've come full circle.

Pretty sure Hunnigan made a brief appearance in this film, but for the life of me, I cannot remember in what capacity. I'll also say that Chris's team was a lot of fun, and we need more of them. You cannot introduce such surprisingly fun side characters and not have them show up in a future game. Maybe the expansion of Requiem?

Ultimately, I'd say this movie is in the original timeline only; it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense in the remake's timeline since RE Engine!Leon hasn't demonstrated a great deal of conflict over his job, saving people, or a propensity towards drinking. Also, Chris just doesn't seem like the Chris of RE7 or RE: Village, but I'm not totally sure what is going on with his characterization in the newer games in general. I need to revisit his sections since it's been a bit.

Let's just get it out of the way: Grace is, in fact, an FBI agent. There was no twist at the end in relation to this. I will confess that I think the fact I was able to make such a decent argument in favor of her not being an agent is a strike on the writing's establishment of her character, made more frustrating by the fact it would have been so easy to avoid.

It's basically just the opening scene of the game that's the problem, and it's a problem because it's too short! Just a quick conversation between Grace and her boss, Nathan Dempsy, about how it's time for her to tackle her past trauma, and move on. I get what they're going for; protagonists revisiting the past so they can find closure is a staple of storytelling for a reason, but due to the brevity I was left with more questions than answers. Does Dempsy have a lot of trust and confidence in Grace, and therefore he's convinced she can handle this on her own? Does he have no confidence in her, and is therefore hoping if she gets over this she'll finally be a decent agent? How is she as an agent when she's not confronting the horrors of her own mother's murder?

These are not questions the game itself provides any answers to, and for that reason it remains the weakest part of the game. We can make a few educated guesses based off her actual behavior in the game, though, so let's make some!

Grace isn't great with guns; we know this because she literally stowed hers in her backpack. So, probably not usually a field agent. This much actually is confirmed by the game itself outright: she's an intelligence analyst. She goes over data and reaches conclusions to help enforce the law, but I suspect she's not generally out there arresting people herself. Okay, that at least explains some of her uncertainty when she's out in the field, although it raises some serious questions about Dempsy's reasoning.

She should have been sent with someone. Even though Dempsy believed she'd simply be gathering data at the scene, a field agent should have gone with her. Granted, I will admit I'm not all that familiar with the FBI's operating procedures, so maybe this isn't as insane as it seems to me. Maybe the police officer at the scene was the one that was supposed to accompany her, and Dempsy assumed that that's what would happen. I am going to be generous and assume that is the case here, but you can see how just a few extra lines about "so-and-so will meet you at the site and go over the data with you" would have removed most of these questions and would have made both Dempsy and Grace seem a lot more professional. I also think a few more lines from him about how he knows this is difficult, or he hesitated to bring this up to her, or any sign of compassion about sending her to the scene of her mother's murder would have really helped. Maybe a more detailed, forlorn admittance that her analyses are simply the best in their agency, and he needs that kind of research done to stop the murders happening as well. That would have been a superb way of explaining why she was chosen.

Moving on from that, throughout the game we see that Grace suffers from PTSD in the form of panic attacks, but she never lets that prevent her from doing her job, even though her job is now far beyond anything she has ever done before. Honestly, this was a major highlight of the game for me. Seeing someone tackling the demons of their past in a very real way--panic attacks, fear, self-doubt--while also persevering anyway is inspiring stuff, and I think they pulled it off well with Grace.

So, dedication is something we can associate with Grace, as well as a keen mind. She solves multiple odd puzzles and sorts through scientific inventions, such as the blood transfuser. Not completely unusual for an RE protagonist, but impressive all the same.

She's also willing to take responsibility for others, namely in the form of Emily. Now, I was convinced Emily was going to attempt to kill Grace, and that Grace was bad with children, and... Well, I wasn't completely wrong, I guess. XD But in Grace's defense, she gets a lot better with Emily by checking up on her and speaking with her a little more.

She also uses Emily to help solve a puzzle for her. Now, I am 90% sure we could have solved this puzzle without Emily. I almost tried it, except the plot obviously wanted me to get Emily, and I figured I'd do things the "right" way first, but next playthrough I'm going to test my theory.

So, the puzzle uses three blocks that only have braille on them. Grace can't read that, but she knows they're supposed to say sun, moon, and stars. Now, we solved two other puzzles also using these symbols, and the braille was on those pictures in the past two puzzles. Couldn't we have just looked at the past puzzles, jotted down the braille on them, and sorted the puzzle out from there without getting a child involved? I think we could have, and the game doesn't prevent you from just inputting some guesses.

Having said that, leaving Emily in containment without getting her to solve the puzzle doesn't seem great either. I'm hoping that if I solve it without Emily, Grace will realize she can't abandon a child to that facility, and so we have to go get her anyway. We will find out on my second playthrough, I suppose!

Anyway, children being protected by adults is a bit of a theme in the RE franchise (via Claire, Barry, and Grace now), and I think it's great. It automatically makes everyone seem a lot more heroic and nurturing, so keep that staple coming, CAPCOM.

In Requiem, it serves as a great way of showing Grace pull herself together. Emily is kidnapped by The Girl because she helped Grace, and so Grace has to go save her. It's a mix of guilt and genuine compassion from Grace, and speaks volumes towards her character.

It's also why when Emily does turn into a monster, it's genuinely heartbreaking. At that point, Grace had done everything you can imagine for Emily. I also realized in that moment, that this game might not be a story about victory the way most RE games are to some degree. The worst RE ever gets is bittersweet, but I found myself wondering if this might be the game to break that trend, and that maybe Grace's story was one of failure: a woman who was good enough to get into the FBI, but never really shine, a woman who got a girl involved in a dangerous investigation only to lose her, a woman who was defeated by all the tragedy stacked against her.

When Leon killed Emily, Grace gave up, and handed herself over to Zeno and Gideon, it was quite distressing.

Ultimately, Grace is redeemed by solving the puzzle that Spencer left behind, and she helps save Leon so he can, in turn, save all of them, including Emily, which I did not see coming. It's heroism at its finest, and so, despite the flaws of her story's start, I found myself approving of the rest of Grace's story immensely, and I hope she gets to return. RE's track record for bringing back characters is pretty abysmal for anyone who wasn't in the first two games (or Ethan, which was a small miracle), but one can hope!

Now let's take a look at Leon's character progression! I have a larger post in the works for Leon's character development because at this point I truly believe we're dealing with two different Leons: the original's Leon that spans most of the games and movies, and the RE Engine's Leon who started in the RE2 remake and has continued into Requiem. For now, everything I'm about to say about Leon applies only to the RE Engine Leon because including all that other material just doesn't make sense for the depiction we have in my opinion.

With that out of the way, I am impressed with just how consistent the depiction of RE Engine!Leon has been from game to game. There is no doubt in my mind that the man we meet in this game is the natural growth of the man we met in RE2. He's quieter, more confident, less resentful of his job (the start of RE4 indicates he wasn't thrilled with where he was in life), and completely assured in his abilities. I love seeing how he's grown from an uncertain rookie cop into an incredible agent.

I'll also point out that Leon's start in the game benefits a great deal from those previous games because having all that past knowledge about the character means his intro doesn't feel rushed the way Grace's does even though it's also pretty short. We don't wonder too much about what he's doing or how he's doing it; we accept he's doing agent stuff, and he's great at doing it because he's been doing it for ages. Granted, I wouldn't have minded a little more introductory material, but his start is otherwise solid.

It's only when you get through his entire plot that certain questions arise, so let's take a look at those.

1. Why are he and Sherry the only DSO agents tackling this case? We have exactly zero evidence that anyone else in that agency was involved at any stage of the operation, which is just... weird. They're both infected with the T-Virus; isn't this an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation?

2. Where is Hunnigan? She has been on the other side of the radio for Leon in literally everything since the original RE4. Every movie and game. That is some serious consistency.

3. Where is Chris? This is relevant because we're dealing with some kind of Wesker clone, and anything Wesker-related is generally Chris-related.

4. Who is Leon married to?! Seriously, it's probably not the most important question of the game, but it is the one currently driving me the most insane. The concept art shows he has a wedding ring, and the very end of the game shows him slipping it back on once the mission is over, so... where was his spouse during his near-death experience with the T-Virus? Why is Leon so ready to die to save Grace and make amends for his perceived inadequacy in Raccoon City if he's now a married man with another person to think about? And even ignoring that, how will Sherry feel? Perhaps older Leon is simply too comfortable with the knowledge that someday, he will die, and he can't control that. Maybe that's the kind of mindset needed for his line of work. I'd be curious to see that explored further.

I will reveal my personal guess on who he's married to short of all that: Hunnigan. I'm convinced this man has married Hunnigan simply because she's the most consistent person in his life. Ada comes and goes, Claire is generally off doing humanitarian work, Ashley is... Actually, we still haven't received any updates on Ashley, which is devastating in its own right.

I also think it's Hunnigan simply because of how weird it is that she wasn't operating comms; Sherry was. Maybe, as his spouse, it would be too difficult to be objective in the face of his illness and his going out into danger, so she had to do comms for other people instead. It would make sense to me. Alternatively, maybe she (and everyone else at the DSO?) was too sick from the T-Virus to do much of anything. They really need to address the missing DSO presence in this game....

In an effort to be fully transparent, I'll admit that out of all the options available to Leon, the one I would like the least is Ada. That's not a diss on Ada; I think she's a great character, especially in the remake, which has humanized her more and made her less of a straight-up villain. I recently watched Damnation, and I was not impressed with her portrayal there, personally, so maybe that's impacting my take here, but I just don't like their vibes together much.

Ada doesn't seem like someone who would want to settle down and get married, and she also doesn't seem like the type to change her whole career just to be with Leon. I think she might take slightly less evil jobs, but I don't think she'll ever be working within the boundaries of the law to say the least. I also think that while she's attracted to his do-gooder qualities, they might start to irk her after awhile.

As for the RE Engine version of Leon, they haven't been writing him as a character smitten with Ada who is willing to compromise his principles to be with her. He's attracted to her, sure, but the end of RE2 didn't read as unresolved sexual tension, it just read as tension. Their reunion in RE4 (2023) showed he was happy to see her, unsurprised at her survival, but ultimately he was going to do his job, which was exactly what he tells Ashley and Ada at different points in the game as well. Quite simply, that's why this version of Leon doesn't make sense as a man who would marry Ada: he doesn't compromise himself; his personal standard is too high to be with someone that exchanges in illegal goods and bio-weapons when he spends all his time trying to prevent that. It would just be toxic.

For those two to be married in this version of RE, there would have to be a lot of development for them both, but mostly Ada, since Requiem makes it pretty clear Leon hasn't changed who he is or where he stands on anything. Am I convinced CAPCOM will share these feelings? Not even remotely. 8D I can easily see their logic being, "Well, they've had an on again, off again relationship for almost 30 years. Let's just finalize it once and for all!" Boo to that, I say.

I've also considered they will never reveal who he's married to since messing with 30 years of fan theories and shipping is risky to say the least. I kind of like the idea of the expansion featuring an entire plot about his getting married, getting prepared, picking out his suit, followed by nonstop epic action scenes as the whole world tries to prevent this from happening, but when the wedding finally happens? The credits roll just as he's about to lift her veil. XD I am so here for that kind of story, honestly. It would be a ton of fun, and just a serious troll move towards the fanbase.

As for the rest of Leon's story arc in Requiem, I'd say it's all solid stuff. I liked his interactions with Grace; he never really doubts her despite being given numerous reasons to, and I like to see it; it makes the audience more confident in her as well. RE Engine!Leon's interactions with women have been solid on the whole; the best aspects of chivalry are almost always on display.

The action scenes and the music on Leon's playthrough also stand out. When "Indomitable" first started playing in Raccoon City, I felt suitably creeped out and inspired to face the zombie horde. Very nicely done.

Moving on from all that, I have a few ideas on what the upcoming expansion to the game will be, which has been confirmed as coming out, but I haven't seen any real details on what's supposed to be in it.

By far the likeliest scenario is that Chris will make an appearance, either as a playable character, or as someone Leon partners up with. Between the two, I would prefer Leon partnering up with him, since Chris has already been the extra playable character in Resident Evil VII and Village, and I just think we need to break the mold a little bit here. I'm also a little biased, and would simply prefer to play as Leon, or possibly Grace although that strikes me as far less likely. Basically, I want to play someone we were already playing in the main game, which was not Chris.

As for what the plot would be about, I suspect we'd finally learn why Chris wasn't involved in all the Zeno business. The BSAA was very much not helpful for the majority of this game, but we did find their camps littered all over the place, so they were doing something in the background. This would also be a good opportunity for Jill to make a reappearance, but I have very low hopes on that. I think CAPCOM doesn't really know what to do with her.

So, probably some BSAA mission objectives, or a further investigation into Zeno and whoever cloned Wesker to make him, most likely. Again, it's very strange for Chris not to be involved in something Wesker-related, so the expansion would be a good chance of bringing him back into things.