Netflix’s Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Series Is a Retread of the Franchise’s Worst Moments
Photo Courtesy of Netflix
Against my better judgment, I’m a major Resident Evil fan. I’ve stuck with the survival horror-cum-action series since the early 2000s and have followed it through its darkest,boulder-punching days. I’ve never not enjoyed the series even when most of the world turned its back on it—whether ridiculous or genuinely chilling, Resident Evil has always had something for me, and it’s been a delight to see the franchise receive an uptick in popularity since Resident Evil 7. Perhaps unsurprising for most, Capcom has a difficult time maintaining this momentum.
Netflix’s Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is Capcom’s latest foray into on-screen adaptation for their most beloved survival horror franchise. The show is something of a follow-up to 2008’s Resident Evil: Degeneration, which is wedged in the extensive Resident Evil timeline between series darling Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, typically seen as the genesis of a great decline in the franchise’s acclaim. Just like Degeneration, Infinite Darkness stars two of the franchise’s most notable characters: Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer turned U.S. federal agent, and Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield’s younger sister and a member of TerraSave, a global humanitarian aid non-profit. Infinite Darkness concerns their separate journeys uncovering a White House conspiracy from an inside and outside perspective, which of course eventually converge.
There are a few misleading things about Infinite Darkness right off the bat. For one, the show advertises itself as a miniseries focused on Leon and Claire. In reality, it’s more akin to a movie divided into 4 parts. Infinite Darkness is laser-focused on Leon and Claire’s separate storylines to the point that the TV-style format does no favors for it—it would have had a much cleaner presentation if it had simply been cut as a movie. Similarly, Infinite Darkness hardly mirrors the recent creepy survival horror elements of Resident Evil Village or the recent 2 and 3 remakes. In fact, it feels like a bizarre return to the franchise just before it’s soft reboot; it’s much more of a political thriller a la Edge of Darkness (in other words, movies only your dad would like).
The show opens in Penamstan, a fictional country in the Middle East that is a not-so-subtle stand-in for Afghanistan. Penamstan underwent a Civil War six years prior to the show’s start, which led to military intervention from the United States. Penamstan is still in a state of turmoil and is a key territory for both the United States and China, so we’re meant to infer that the United States stepping in to assist with Penamstan’s rebuilding would cause a ripple effect that could lead to a war with China. Seems like a massive leap, but this is only the tip of the iceberg with the fumbled political themes of Infinite Darkness.
In Penamstan, Claire is working towards refugee relief and assisting with the building of schools to help get Penamstan’s youth back on track. She meets a young boy traumatized after witnessing a squad of American soldiers reanimate into zombies and wipe out a whole cavalcade of Penamstanis. This reminds Claire of what happened back in Racoon City in Resident Evil 2, so she heads to the White House to investigate. There, Leon is meeting with the president and two federal agents named Jason and Shenmei to discuss a cyberattack seemingly launched by China on the Pentagon. There’s a zombie outbreak in the building, and Leon saves the president (again).