Video Game Adaptations: Dead Space- Downfall

I didn’t even know this existed when I started this ridiculously misguided foray into video game adaptations, and when informed about it, I can’t honestly say I was that chuffed. For a start, what I know about Anime pretty much begins and ends with Akira and I’m not a huge fan of animation in general. Add that to that I really love the game and that Downfall is a prequel (Lucas has taught me a valuable lesson about this) meant that I approached this with a fair amount of caution and the finger of doom hanging just over the off button. Well, it turns out I was being unfair, and shock horror, Dead Space: Downfall is actually quite acceptable.

I haven’t got the slightest clue who was responsible for developing this, but looking at it, I would take a bet on Electronic Arts themselves. It’s quite a good idea, actually, as they seem to be building a whole multi-platform universe for Dead Space, and Downfall is the tale of what went wrong for the Ishimura and its forsaken crew. The game itself deals with the completely botched rescue mission, and many of these events (notably the accidental death of the captain) are either witnessed by the player over security tapes or heard on Audio logs, and Downfall does its best to incorporate these major events into the plot, and I have to say, handles it well.

Furthermore, actually, if PWS Anderson had put any thought into his prequel (Resident Evil) to a survival horror game, which he clearly didn’t, then he could quite easily have made some of the same decisions made here. Downfall follows a new character (as with Resident Evil): doomed security chief Vincent (voice acting veteran Nika Futterman) and the unfolding disaster taking place on the Ishimura. However, in Downfall, there’s none of the clunky and aggravating exposition that blights so many of these games adaptations, the developers allow essential knowledge to come in bits and pieces (particularly regarding the Unitarian Church). It’s well handled, and if anyone is intending to adapt a game with a complex mythology then this is the way to handle it.

Regarding the voice acting, well, for the most part it’s actually quite shit, and I think the wrong actors are cast in the wrong parts. For example, Kelly Hu plays neo-punk security guard Shen, and I’m nearly convinced she would have been better as Vincent. Jim Cumings is OK as the Captain, but no more and all the actors are stricken with the same problem: the dialogue is crap. As well as the plot and the link to the game were thought out, this is one script that required someone to polish the dialogue. There are so many terrible exchanges, such as the risible “rock worshipper” nonsense, that are just aggravating and every other word out of Vincent’s mouth is a ridiculously testosterone driven garbage. I appreciate that she’s meant to be badass, but it’s actually a bit embarrassing. A great case in point is this:

Alissa Vincent: This is no time to be a hero, Irons!
Samuel Irons: I’m not a hero, just a man.

Yikes! That’s terrible and is sadly merely indicative of the level of character writing in this. Alissa Vincent’s squad, for example, are blatant cannon fodder and there’s an attempt to capture the Drake/ Vasquez exchanges from Aliens, but they don’t work and it all falls a bit flat. To such an extent, actually that we’re plagued with Ricardo actually narrating an essential bit of character information while in the middle of doing something really important. Someone was aware of this, actually, so Vincent repeatedly tells him to shut up- to no avail.

Animation wise, well, erm, haven’t a clue. I suppose it’s OK on the basis that it looks like every other Anime (both of them) that I’ve ever seen. It’s not as slick as Akira but it doesn’t disgrace itself. There’s a veritable bucket load of claret thrown about in this film, and the confines of animation actually help it out- as they don’t particularly have to worry about the realism or plausibility of the gore: Shen is literally chainsawed straight down the middle for example. My only real complaint regarding the artwork in this film is that the necromorphs are far too similar to zombies, and not particularly well designed zombies, but that is harsh, though, given that almost all of the game’s standout beasts make it into the film.

All of which brings me round to the atmosphere of the film- it’s a fail, I’m afraid. I don’t know who made the call, but they sacrifice the creepiness of Dead Space the Game for a more gung-ho action approach. There are scenes that I’m sure were meant to be for atmosphere, but they don’t really work, and instead there’s another monster slaughtering scene waiting to pile in. Some of these are fun, but they do become repetitive by the latter stages of the film.

Nevertheless, despite all the above, I do have to say that I’m relatively impressed by this. It’s never going to be a classic, but by the dismal standards of the genre it’s damned good. It tells the story of the Ishimura well, doesn’t burden the screen with ridiculous exposition and manages to be a fitting accompaniment to the game. However, this last sentence really gives away what’s wrong with it: don’t bother and play the game instead (which is fucking fantastic) as Dead Space: Downfall is a touch redundant. If the intention is to expand the universe then it is successful, but I do have to say that I don’t give a fuck about Extended Universe stuff regardless of the Universe. I give it a completely balanced 2 out of 4, if you are interested, then it whips along at a good pace and isn’t boring, but if you’re not fussed then pass it by and it won’t make any difference to anyone’s life.

Meh.

Until next time,

Jarv