The first of Netflix’s so-called original efforts with the Resident Evil brand, Infinite Darkness has a certain refreshing value to it, thanks to a four-year hiatus between animated takes on the iconic title. However, those four episodes fail quite spectacularly in providing either a successful, biting social commentary or actually giving much in the way of horror. Infinite Darkness’ delivery is perhaps the largest shackle of all. Four episodes of stepping stones between game entires Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, a period that needed little exploration.
Clocking in at 104 minutes, both the format of a series and its push – or lack thereof – are signs of concern. Bookending each episode with a title sequence and a decent chunk of end credits, it’s hard not to feel both a sense of fragmentation. A disjointed plot just about fits together, moving toward the question of “why?”. Too short to actually have any compelling effect and broken up via the TV formula in a fashion that derails the substance and content, the show makes up unsteady foundations for the streaming platform’s plans with the Resident Evil name.
Given the merciless manner in which Netflix ploughs through original series and cancels them outright, it appears a certain culture is forming around how Netflix do business. They are happy to churn out these productions yet have little care for their quality and audience. The end result, Infinite Darkness, leaves a sour taste and a mixture that has nothing to offer newcomers or fans of the series. It feels like a pointless exercise and has nothing of real note to it. Even with fan favourites Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield investigating a White House zombie outbreak, the decent political thriller-style plot soon fizzles out prematurely.
The narrative is certainly something, with a temporal setting worth exploring lagging through a stop-start nature placed upon it by the episodic relaying and writing quality throughout. Infinite Darkness doesn’t justify its viewing, another video-game “adaptation” that unashamedly exploits goodwill and takes aim at the revered source material. Lacking weight where the substance is needed and horrifically poor in its pacing, this toothless story and its attempts at social critique of American imperialism are offensive and in bad taste. Cynically nodding to that of military interventions and the ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine, there is an indefensible line to Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness. It’s hard to see any genuine purpose for them when its plot strips away the jeopardy by having Leon save the day at the last minute in a grand setpiece.
Prior animated Resident Evil efforts have offered nothing more than a slight visual disgust. To the credit of earlier films, they use the animation to its full potential and bring to life some grizzly creatures. Infinite Darkness’ horror, however, is completely sanitised. It is absolutely a case of being lost in translation and, frankly, the one-man-army survival horror elements don’t work, as evidenced in early sequences in the corridors of the White House. Dimensions, lighting, and tension, they cannot be replicated in a purely visual and passive medium. It removes the sting of it all. Despite the high standard of the animation, the writing lets it down.
Any branding of this as a horror are generous. Infinite Darkness is undeserving of its classification. Even through the lense of science-fiction, this piece would be incredibly tame. There are parts that completely miss the point, sanitising itself of any form of personality by relying on the tropes and charms of The Matrix and Black Hawk Down. Its lack of focal, narrative points though are the real sign of lacking substance. Iconic characters, references to the game and even a few setpieces that elicit the charm of the game that aren’t tethered to anything. They miss an open goal. Eiichirō Hasumi’s show could’ve likened itself to any of the adored games in which Leon is central which would have, at the very least, given a sense of worth to this venture.
At least the animation is immaculate, and Infinite Darkness should be remembered for the rendering of characters in breathtaking quality. Detail is nothing short of stunning throughout and there are major advancements on the quality seen in previous animated Resident Evil efforts. What brief moments of horror are thrown at the audience ar esolid, with zombified creatures managing these seldom occurrences with unique and impressive designs. It is far from the peak of zombie horror or even the heights of the franchise, but Infinite Darkness has a visual core within its soulless affair. Never going the distance to fully craft a horror story worth its while, it’ll leave fans of the series burnt.
