I suppose it was bound to happen. The Rezort review I mean. And not because we here at IndieGala have a fondness for zombies. And by we, I mean mostly me. I’ve written about plenty of zombie video games and zombie movies before. Starting with the Resident Evil franchise and now with Dead Island. Another great zombie/survival horror game. Moreover, it’s Dead Island’s Definitive Edition I’ll be focusing on. But more on that later.
The Rezort and Dead Island
Why Rezort you might ask? Well, because of the many similarities between these two seemingly different projects. The Definitive Edition is a remastered version of the 2011 game, but it’s just a polished and refined version of the classic. Both The Rezort and Dead Island are set on a remote island, and both of these projects involve gnarly zombies in a post-apocalyptic setting. Dead Island focuses on 4 survivors trying to survive and escape off the fictional island of Banoi. While in the Rezort, a group of survivors from a devastating zombie war comes to a remote island to embark on a zombie safari.
Dead Island VS Rezort : What’s The Game All About?
Indeed, this will be a review of The Rezort and the review will follow shortly. But, before I go any further, I believe a word or two about the game itself is in order. So, what’s Dead Island all about?
Well developed by Techland and published by DeepSilver, Dead Island is a survival horror/action RPG game. Dead Island takes place in July 2006 on the fictional island of Banoi. A lush, tropical resort destination located off the east coast of Papua New Guinea. Just north of Australia. So, when the characters in the game are abruptly awakened, they’ll find out something horrendous too. The majority of the population have been overcome by a contagious and infectious plague. Therefore you are caught amid an epic zombie outbreak, and your only mission is: To survive!
Here are some of the Steam comments about the game itself.
Rem!x says: An epic zombie outbreak on the night party on the tropical island of Banoi. There is a huge world to explore and lots of zombies to kill and the graphics are awesome af. Can’t wait for Dead Island 2!
While IronHead said…
Hey! Who doesn’t like a good zombie killing game! The story is good too. With the updated graphics, it’s pretty decent.
And yes. As you can expect, we do have Dead Island, and it’s available for purchase. Just click here and let yourself enjoy some zombie killing pleasures.
But What About The Movie?
Well, The Rezort also involves zombies, but in a slightly different story. After the long and hard war against zombies, humanity lost about 2 billion people. We’ve won the war but it was a brutal win. So, the few remaining zombies that are left now are kept on a secluded island. Oh, and they’re hunted for sport, like some sort of demented post-apocalyptic safari. So when a bunch of tourists (with their own fears and problems) come to the Rezort on the island… Well, chaos and mayhem will follow with them. Let’s put that mildly.
Is It A Good Movie?
Well, it’s not good, but it’s far from bad. It’s what you would qualify a perfectly mediocre movie. It’s fairly predictable in almost every way, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent to watch it. However, even though there’s an obligatory exposition intro scene, I do appreciate the fact that the plot takes place after the apocalypse. That was a pleasant and interesting addition to the cliché zombie stories we all know too well. Let’s face it. Most of the contemporary zombie movies do take place in the midst of a zombie outbreak. Or right after. No, over here Dead Island is set sometime after the end of the Zombie War. And humanity has adjusted to the new normal again. Oh, and mush like with everything else, capitalism forced us to make a profit out of the few remaining undead.
Bland Characters, Unremarkable Performances
The reason I didn’t mention the characters beforehand, is because I think they’re pretty bland and unremarkable. I feel that the whole movie is better than the sum of its parts. And those parts are cliché at best, and forgettable at worst. I didn’t remember a single one of the characters in this movie. However, I did appreciate the effort of Dougary Scott in his otherwise one-dimensional role. Dougray Scott is Archer in Dead Island. A reserved and quiet veteran. And he does carry the movie a lot more, solely because of the fact that he’s a hell of a lot more talented actor in this bunch. In fact, it’s the only actor of the cast that I can identify. Scott is good, but sadly even he can’t elevate the flat convoluted script.
Different Motives In The Rezort
And speaking of the characters in Dead Island… We know right form the start that every single one of them comes to The Rezort with his/her bags of skeletons. And hidden motives. A lot of them. Social activists, revenge-seeking people, or simply grown men with too much time on their hands. A mismatched group of people. Too bad, their motives don’t have further exploration in the plot. Sure we get a glimpse of the social activism side and the corporate greed side. But not enough in my opinion. I wanted staunch support on the other sides, without being condescending or preachy. Instead, I also got a bit condescending (yet simplified) messages on both of these sides, that didn’t satisfy me. Those heavy questions are barely scratched below the surface. And the characters were generic enough to make me not care. About any of them.
More Zombies Please!
When I see a zombie survival movie, I expect to see zombies. And plenty of them I might add. Which is great. But you see, because the plot is set about a decade after the main zombie apocalypse, they’re contained. And apart from the last scene, you’ll see the zombies in a small confined space. For the most part. Which is nice, and aligns with the rather small budget of the movie to be honest.
Sure if you have Brad Pitt in a 100 million dollar budget, you can do a globe-throttling movie. But over here, the production is tight, and the director manages to work with what he got. However, even with the tight budget, we get some descent zombie action. Sure they’re predictable much like everything else, but at least they’re fun to watch. Speaking of predictable, even the villain (a corporate evil bitch) will get an unsatisfying and uninspired death here. But I suppose it goes with the territory.
Decent Direction Though
If there’s one thing that half- decent, and above the line of mediocracy here, it’s the direction. Don’t get me wrong it’s not even remotely Romero-like, but it doesn’t have to be. Here you have a steady cam in the muted down interior short, and shaky cam in the more dynamic exterior shots. The stylish direction from Steve Barker is the strongest link here, while the script from Paul Gerstenberger is the weak point.
Are You A Fan Of The Rezort?
Or of Dead Island? Let us know in the comment section. We’d love to know about both of these projects. Have you seen the 2015 zombie movie? How about Dead Island? Did you give it a shot? We’d love to know about everything.
