Dead Space: Downfall (2008)

First of all, let me just say that I'm a big fan of Dead Space, the video game. It's a game that offered nothing new, especially not plot-wise (being basically a rehash of Aliens, Thing, Event Horizon and every zombie movie out there), but tied everything it recycled in a neat package which was surprisingly enjoyable to play through."Dead Space: Downfall" is sort of a prequel to the game (the game itself starts right after this animated movie ends). As such, it is debatable who should be the target audience for it - folks who played through the game, loved it and want more, folks who are about to play the game and want some sort of plot primer, or people not interested in the game at all but rather at this animated feature as a standalone? I can say right away that if you belong to the last group, you WILL be disappointed. What you will get out of "DS: Downfall" is a gory cartoon with average animation, weak characters and derivative yet confusing plot. Oh, and F-bombs galore. As I said, you will be far better off if you opt to rewatch Alien trilogy, Thing, Event Horizon or any good zombie flick out there.If you are about to play the game, than I guess "DS:Downfall" will give you a good idea of what you can expect from the game itself. However, it will also ruin quite a few surprises which I personally think are far better experienced in the game. Ultimately, odds are you will also find "DS:Downfall" confusing, sub-par and not quite worth your time, too.Finally, we come to fans of the game, people who enjoyed Dead Space so much that they crave more of the good stuff. Will "DS:Downfall" provide? Well, yes and no. First of all, if you finished the game, you have already pieced together the story told in "Downfall". So no surprises there. Furthermore, this feature is far less scary and atmospheric than the game itself - the necromorphs look way more benign in animated form, and the charm and immersiveness are completely absent. You might get a kick of seeing characters and locations you know from the game, although odds are this will be disappointing, too - in "Downfall", every Tom, Dick and Harry wears a jacket with the "spinal HP meter", and none of the weapons from the game appear in the movie (except that I guess the "light sword" the soldiers use is perhaps Downfall's rendition of the Ripper). There's a scene where one of the character dies and you see a close up of the "spinal meter" lowering itself from blue, yellow to finally red, where I guess fans of the game should be gleefully nudging themselves enjoying how this is "right out of the game", but the truth is that this scene is such an obvious fan-service and in itself completely ludicrous and devoid of impact you will most probably simply laugh or smirk. Not to mention that it's a scene already seen in the game, where it played out a little bit differently and a lot more realistically.Bottom line, you may skip this and not miss much. Even if you are extremely interested in "Dead space lore", this movie will simply re-tell everything you already know. As such, it is really only for the true, hardcore fans, who really cannot live knowing that there is more "Dead Space" stuff out there and they haven't experienced it yet.4/10, since I *am* a big fan, otherwise - freely lower the score 1 or 2 points further

This movie came free with a special edition of the Dead Space game that i bought. Being a fan of animation, i immediately popped this into my DVD player for a view. On first viewing i was impressed, though with subsequent viewings, the flaws started to bubble to the surface.The story seems to be a blend of Aliens, Resident Evil(the game) and Doom(the movie). Spaceship responds to a distress signal from some far off mining colony, some alien organism gets on board and starts replicating and killing the crew. Throw in an internal power struggle between the ship's captain and his doctor, a dash of pseudo-religious talk and lots of bloody action and you get Dead Space Downfall. The more interesting parts of the story is actually the interplay between the captain, his bridge crew and the doctor. It builds up very nicely to its satisfying climax and plays out like a live action movie in terms of the dialogue and level of acting. Hidden agendas are brought to light and trust goes down the drain hole, leading to the eventual breakdown of order on board the spaceship. Sadly, the film chooses to focus on the bland and clichéd story of the security team tackling the alien infestation. Characterization wise, none of the characters really come across as any thing but one dimensional. The captain and the doctor are pretty well done but since the story did not focus much on them, it was a wasted effort. The main characters in the security team are typical sci/fi B movie stock characters. Acting tough but still getting killed off ever so easily. The pseudo-religious subplot could have evolved into something really interesting or could have been used as a metaphor for some really life issues today. Sadly, the writers focused too much on the action than on developing the more interesting aspects of the plot. Which brings me to the action itself, and the animation. The animation is inconsistent. Though it is a huge step upward from Film roman's previous animated movies like Hellboy Animated and Turok Son of Stone, it has not yet reached the standard one would expect from direct to DVD animated features. The animation for the most part is smooth with a high frame rate, but that is due to the stylized angular character designs and simple shadows and shading. The CGI and backgrounds though are a real treat to look at as the cel shading blends almost seamlessly with the simpler 2D designs and doesn't feel at all jarring. While most of the animation and art are quite good, it is during the action scenes that we see a visible dip in quality. The level of art detail drops A LOT in the action scenes and the character movements suddenly get really stiff and choppy. Some scenes are very obviously only a few key frames "motion blurred" to give the illusion of movement or a single frame "panned" across the background with a shaky camera. Muzzle flash from guns are also out of sync with the blood splattering hit squibs. At times, a few gun fight scenes even look like a bad flash animated internet game.The most slower paced scenes in between gun fights are more enjoyable and really effective in their combination of lighting, shock factor and designs in conveying a overall scary feel. This is especially true in the first quarter of the film where the suspense is allowed to build nicely. But once the action picks up, the scares die down.For fans of the game, many would notice the many inconsistencies between this movie and the Dead Space game. For starters in Downfall, the alien artifact is huge, almost as big as an entire hanger bay. In the game, it is only twice the size of a person. Also, the plasma cutters work very differently. In the game, they emit charges of plasma energy that can be used to sever limbs with a click of the mouse. In Downfall, they are presented like lightsaber chainsaws.In the end, this movie falls short on many levels. What could have made the movie great, such as the power struggle intrigue, the pseudo religious sub plot and the scary atmosphere in the 1st quarter, were cast aside in favour of following tried and tested(see cliché) story plot and themes. The animation is on par with many anime OVAs; better than TV series but not as good as animated movies. A great show to pass some time at home.

This is nothing more than a companion, and a compliment to the amazing game by EA games, and it fulfills all expectations i had of it. This manga does not push the limit as far as clever animation, but does offer some pretty interesting moments, the weapons are not spectacular neither are most of the characters, but the aren't out of place either, they fit very well in the Dead Space world. Also this will seem like a cheap ripoff to anyone who hasn't played the game, because so many elements feel like a different movie, such as resident evil, or aliens. But, for fans of the game it is nice to see the USG Ishimura in another light, and see so many nuances to the game that is very cool and satisfying. Don't expect revolutionary, this is best thought of as a really long DS intro, nothing more.

This anime was far more entertaining than I'd expected, a pleasant surprise. The animation has a Nickelodeon quality about it and that's the only resemblance to anything nick has ever produced. It's liberal with deep space (surprise!,) aliens, blood, bullets, horror and... bashing... and hacking... and CG, which is good.It's dumb fun.Some other movies that come to mind after watching this are Event Horizon, Silent Hill, When they Cry and... Avatar. Many others too, though honestly, this plot and setting, they feel new.P.S. There is some impressive animation, kudos to the artists.