- Actors: Keegan Tracy, Jessica Harmon, Marie Avgeropoulos, Billy Zane, Jesse Metcalfe
- Director: Pat Williams
- Producers: Tim Carter
- Format: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, English
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: December 6, 2016
- Run Time: 96 minutes
With the flood
of bad to mediocre zombie films released regularly, the first Dead Rising film adaptation stood apart
thanks to a bit of creative filmmaking and a few relevant allegories for modern
society. Planned merely months after the release of the first film, Dead Rising: Endgame continues a pattern
of fairly transparent political commentary, especially for those living in
terror of a xenophobic Trump administration. The irony is that Dead Rising and its sequel were both
made in Canada.
Picking up the
story shortly after the end of the last film, reporter Chase Carter (Jesse
Metcalfe) is desperately trying to uncover a conspiracy while also hunting for
his camerawoman, Jordan (Keegan Connor Tracy), within the quarantined zone of
East Mission City. When Chase uncovers a large-scale conspiracy to wipe out all
of the people infected with the disease, including those who are controlling it
with medication, he sets out to find undeniable proof to bring down the mastermind,
General Lyons (Dennis Haysbert).
The decision to
destroy all who are infected rather than just those who are actually zombies
very transparently works as allegory for Trump’s statements about banning all
Muslim immigrants from the United States, to keep out the few that may be
potential terrorists. While this is somewhat clever (although not at all
subtle), it ends up detracting from the main reason that people play these
video games and watch mediocre film adaptations: zombies. Far too much of the film’s
first half is more focused on highly dramatic conversations about political
conspiracies, which delays the arrival of horror action to the detriment of the
film’s ability to entertain.
On his mission,
Chase is joined by his latest girlfriend, Sandra Lowe (Marie Avgeropoulos), who
also happens to be an expert hacker and bear striking resemblance to the
missing character (Meghan Ory as Crystal) from the first film. This is not the
only element of Dead Rising: Endgame
which feels duplicated from the first film. There is even a long single-take
fight sequence near the end of the film, just as the first film had. Unfortunately,
it is too little too late, and ultimately Endgame
just feels like a lackluster extension of the first film.
The Blu-ray release
doesn’t come with alternate ways to watch the film (DVD or digital copy), but
it does include a handful of featurettes and a sheet of temporary zombie
tattoos. The problem with all of the extras is that they are all a mere minutes
long, acting more as padding for the special features section than providing
actual information.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5.5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 3/10
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