Review of Dead Space: Downfall (2008) by David — 20 Jul 2010

I've kind of given up on video games lately, but every once in awhile something comes along that peaks my interest. I'm hearing mixed reviews for Electronic Arts Dead Space, but the fact that it has zombie-like creatures in it is enough to motivate me to at least rent it. When I heard there was a movie prequel to the game hitting DVD and Blu-Ray this week, I knew I had to check it out.

Dead Space: Downfall doesn't have the greatest animation you are ever going to see. It does have a lot of impressive looking backgrounds, and the character designs are nice. It's just that the fluidness of some of the animation goes in and out at times in the film. But it is still an impressive looking movie, considering that it is a straight to video release.

What I liked the most about the film, which was no surprise to me, was the monsters that terrorize a mining ship deep in space. The alien lifeforms inhabit the human body, and then turns them into crazy creatures with spider legs, razor teeth and twist the bodies into all sorts of shapes. I love how vicious they are, and how gory some of the scenes can get when these monsters attack the crew and the crew fight back. I especially liked the scenes where this tool, which can be best described as a mix between a light saber and a chainsaw, is used to hack and slash these monsters to bits.

The story in Dead Space: Downfall isn't that original. I kept thinking of other movies like Alien while watching it. Plus, there is a lot of needless bad language in the film. But the movie is swift, and doesn't linger too much on talk. And it gets to the mindless violence pretty fast, so I was able to forgive the movie for its limitations with its script.

Dead Space: Downfall has motivated me even more to want to check out the video game. Dead Space: Downfall isn't perfect, but it is among the best straight to video movies released this year. It ranks up there with Gotham Knight as being another example this year that fully CGI animated movies aren't always the best source for animation entertainment.