Dead Space: Downfall is a 2008 animated psychological science fiction horror film directed by Chuck Patton, starring Nika Futterman, Bruce Boxleitner, Keith Szarabajka, Jim Cummings, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Kelly Hu. The film follows the transportation of an artifact called the Marker, leading to the deaths of the crew on board the mining ship USG Ishimura at the hands of reanimated mutated corpses dubbed “Necromorphs”.
The story seems to blend Doom with Resident Evil, in which an outbreak aboard a spaceship leads to the massacre of its crew after the discovery of an alien artifact. We’ve seen scenarios like this from films like Deep Rising (1998), Aliens (1986), Doom (2005), Pandorum (2009), and Virus (1999) in which something happens, a lot of people get killed, and someone stumbles upon the scene trying to uncover what happened. But it’s never just that. There’s always the power struggle between the characters that make the story more compelling.
The story is split into two plots: the captain and crew trying to survive, and the security team dispatched to deal with the threat. And there’s this tension between the ship’s captain and his doctor, that forms the core of the human drama with the survivors. There’s also the story of the security team trying to take out the infestation and I did enjoy it. It doesn’t feel unnecessary and helps to make the characters feel more legit. I love the bloody violence, but I really enjoy seeing the dynamics between the characters as they deal with this situation. The buildup works well, and the climax is cool.
The characters aren’t as fleshed out as I would’ve liked. I did like Alissa Vincent as the leader of the security team. I liked Dr. Kyne and Captain Matthius. They’re all pretty much one dimensional, the typical troupes you’d see in scenarios like this. Apart of me feels that the film would’ve worked better had the film focused on either the crew or the security team. Because the two distinct groups have so many different personalities it would’ve worked better to have compartmentalize it.
The story is good and although I thought the characters could’ve been written better, they were still enjoyable. (3 out of 5)
The animation is good, it’s flows smoothly. The character builds and designs are diverse, the backgrounds look highly detailed, and the overall art design is great to look at. Really love the designs of the Necromorphs and how well the blood and violence are captured. I can say that the animation does suffer during the action sequences. This isn’t necessarily surprising as many animated action scenes have lower key frames to emphasize fast action. This makes it choppy at the worst of times. That’s why when it comes to slower scenes the animation quality bounces back allowing character interactions to be more expressive as well as character movement. I’m not a fan of the mix of 2D and 3D and never have been but it’s decent here.
The sound design is good though there are some dips in quality. The music is done well enough to give provide atmosphere, but I walked away from this not really remembering any of it.
I did like animation though it has it share of issues. (3 out of 5)
The voice performances and casting are solid. They’re really good, give their characters personality, and are very expressive. The stand outs for me are Nika Futterman (as Alissa Vincent), Keith Szarabajka (as Dr. Kyne), Kelly Hu (as Shen) and Jim Cummings (as Captain Matthius). Really enjoyed their performances and that’s probably why I like their characters so much. Other performances include Kevin Michael Richardson, Hal Sparks, Phil Morris, Jeff Bennett, Lia Sargent, and Bruce Boxleitner.
Now, I’m not going to go through the differences between the movie and the game. The writing is pretty good, and Chuck Patton does a good job with the direction. The film isn’t long, but the pacing is good. There’s good atmosphere and good tension, but the suspense does melt away in face of the action scenes which is unfortunate. This is one of the bloodiest and violent movies I’ve ever seen. There’s profanity, a lot of death, and a lot of action. It’s hard to have a horror film have action and be able to balance the two (something Aliens successfully did).
The characterization does suffer and as stated above, I’d attribute it to the split storylines. The dialogue is strong and feels appropriate for the situations. There’s also the religious aspect that the story focuses on. This too could’ve been something that the writer’s could’ve fleshed, perhaps similar to Stephen King’s The Mist, and how it helped to sow distrust among the characters.
Overall, writing, direction, and acting are good. (4 out of 5)
The Verdict: In the end, Dead Space: Downfall is a good prequel to a great game. It’s an entertaining watch though it does have its share of issues. Most of my complaints are on the characters as well as some drops in animation quality and the score. Still, I enjoyed the action, the atmosphere, the blood and gore, and the story. Dead Space: Downfall gets 3 out of 5.
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