Standing in contrast to the depressing, horrifying, and occasionally nihilistic tones of Capcom’s Resident Evil series are the Dead Rising games. Sure, Dead Rising has zombies and the collapse of society as well, but it also lets you swing around a light saber while wearing a suit of medieval armor. The first attempt at a film adaptation, Dead Rising: Watchtower, wasn’t exactly a critical darling, but comedian Rob Riggle’s performance at least kept the tone appropriately light. If the sequel’s trailer is indicative of the final product, it’s going to be a little more serious.
Dead Rising: Endgame sees Jesse Metcalfe’s Chase Carter, returning from Watchtower, and seeking to unravel a conspiracy involving a U.S. Army plot to use civilians as test subjects for a deadly virus.
“We’re talking about roughly one and a half million people: genocide,” says Carter. While it’s not clear exactly why the Army wants to slaughter innocent people (outside of the “Big Brother” plot of the first film), main baddie Dennis Haysbert’s stone-cold performance as General Lyons does look like one of the highlights.
“If push comes to shove, I will stand before the American people and explain why it was necessary,” Lyons says. Sure — the country will readily understand why slaughtering over a million people was necessary.
Dead Rising is best known for its ludicrous customized weapons, and this seems to be where Endgame is following the games the closest. A drill/meat cleaver combination, a baseball bat fitted with nails and a bayonet, and a ceiling light are all used to turn zombies into really dead people.
Unfortunately, Endgame doesn’t appear to feature the same humor as the first film. Awkward lines about doing “dinner and a movie” instead of fighting the undead aren’t even really jokes, and while the series never went into full-fledged comedy territory, it at least acknowledged the ridiculousness of a zombie apocalypse.
Dead Rising: Endgame arrives exclusively to Crackle on June 20.
