Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness on Netflix, after the announcement the first reflections
Returning to us, the announcement of the fifth chapter of the narrative vein in computer graphics is Netflix's answer ... to itself. It left us rather perplexed because by taking a tour on social media it was not difficult to identify the extreme discontent towards the TV series, a bit like that addressed to the novels of S.D. Perry who, if nothing else, keep on track using characters and situations contextual to the video game. We would therefore have understood if Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness had been a backtrack aimed at replacing the television series; in this case we have instead two products linked to the same franchise, part of the same distribution platform, which however take diametrically opposite paths and of which only one meshes in the right direction, at least as regards consistency with the video game and the direct support of fan.
Because although Resident Evil has become a cult and has reached the general public with Anderson's films (good until the second and then sliding towards an inexorable decline), something remains closely linked to the videogame sphere and which will therefore draw on especially from that basin. We are happy with this bolt from the blue, undoubtedly aimed at capitalizing on the success of the Resident Evil 2 remake by re-proposing the Leon / Claire pairing, but we cannot help but wonder about the reason for combining two incredibly distant products, knowing that , in all likelihood, the TV series will be forgettable if these are the premises. It would have been better to follow the direction taken by the promising "Arklay", maybe why not recovering the same and bringing it back into vogue, but that's another story. Today we try to understand where the unexpected Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness might go.
A prequel to Revelations 2?
In just fifty seconds of the trailer is obviously impossible to get a precise idea of what, where and when it will happen in the film, however there are some details that leap to the eye leaving at least hypothesize where everything will fit in the timeline of the series. Let's start from the fact that the films follow their own path so parallel to video games but not necessarily aligned, that is: Resident Evil: Degeneration anticipates the events of Resident Evil 5 (it was released in 2008, a year before the video game), Resident Evil: Damnation dates back to October 27, 2012, about three weeks after the launch of Resident Evil 6, but tells of previous events, and finally Resident Evil: Vendetta is exactly halfway between the sixth and seventh chapter, and was released months after the release of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Although they are consequential to each other and aimed at enriching the videogame counterpart by telling antecedent events, which then connect to the games, with great probability, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness breaks the cycle and goes to insert itself before the story of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - that is, between the events of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Before Resident Evil: Revenge.To suggest it are the only two elements that we can really consider valid. First of all, the appearance of Claire: although always very young, she cannot be linked to a possible post Resident Evil 2 both because immediately after having saved herself she leaves for Europe in search of Chris, giving way to the events that will lead to Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and because her clothing is very close to that of Revelations 2. It is not exactly identical, jacket and shirt are different, but the similarity with the model of that spin-off is clear at a glance. To support the thesis, as far as she is concerned, there is the fact that at the end of the game Claire had short hair, a cut that she maintains even in the epilogue a few months later when she talks to Piers, exactly at the dawn of Resident Evil 6. From there there are no time bases because, any tragedy will occur in Infinite Darkness, can fit if we consider that immediately after the sixth chapter Leon was cast for Vendetta. This is certainly a not obvious choice but quite logical, especially if you want to take advantage of the film to prepare the ground even more for the character of Alex Wesker, whose return seems to have been confirmed in Resident Evil Village. Of course, a haircut and a few dresses don't make an overwhelming test, particularly if we also take into consideration the manga BIOHAZARD heavenly island (set three years after Revelations 2, in 2014) in which Claire seems to be back the same as always, but the similarity with the model of the videogame is too much for one to think of a chance.
The same goes for Leon, protagonist of the second half of the trailer in a completely different place than the remote house where Claire finds herself: to the eye it seems to be a villa where a reception was being held, at least judging by her clothing, which for reasons to be discovered ended up in the cyclone of bioterrorism. His appearance, especially in the foreground, can be compared more to that of Resident Evil 6 than to Resident Evil: Vendetta, where he is more tired, unkempt and less inclined to collaborate in what he considers a hopeless fight. Here he seems to still be employed by the American government and President Benford. The events of Resident Evil 7 created too big a gap between the before and after, laying the foundations for Ethan as the new protagonist but also a new strain of the virus (E), for Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness to be able to get stuck - given the presence of the more conventional living dead. Without further details it is difficult to have certainties but from these small clues - we are still investigating to understand if the vials shown in Claire's sequence are somehow a reference - and above all from the fact that pending in the lore there is also the whole question of the Commander of Umbrella Corps. to be able to resume, we are inclined to believe that this fifth film will tell something prior to Revelations 2. For now we can only wait, breathing a sigh of relief in having a feature film more consistent with the game.
