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54%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #5,936
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Based on the much-anticipated EA videogame Dead Space 2, Dead Space: Aftermath is a fast-paced, horrifying thrill ride that follows the surviving ship crew members of the USG O'Bannon. The year is 2509 and not only has Earth lost contact with the Ishimura and Isaac Clarke, but also now the USG O'Bannon, the first responder ship sent to rescue them.
--IMDb
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Review by Tobes
Added: October 21, 2011
Coming out hot on the heels of Dead Space 2 for Xbox 360, Dead Space: Aftermath was released on the same day as the game to give a film tie-in to the events happening between Dead Space 1 and Dead Space 2. Will Aftermath be as good as the first film Downfall? Will it help with the Dead Space story at all? Read on and find out.
DS: Aftermath once again deals with the Marker from the Dead Space universe (basically, a giant religious totem), and the effects it's having on the members of the CEC (the company that everyone in Dead Space works for/has a relation to). The film is basically a handful of generic people reliving flashbacks of their interactions with this alien artifact,with the only notable person being Nolan Stross, who has a huge role in the story of Dead Space 2.
My main complaint RIGHT off the bat is the fact that Aftermath flips back and forth between two very distinct animation styles during the film. Part of it, unfortunately, is a CGI-style animation that would fit better in the late 90s/early 00s. To me, these CGI bits completely take away any enjoyment you might get from watching film. The mouths and talking animations look SO cheap that it's distracting to try to pay attention what's going on, especially when everything looks so out of sync. This switching is especially distracting when watching the Blu-ray version of Aftermath, as it's flipping from drawn animation to "sharp" looking CGI garbage. When it switches back to the more traditional animation style it looks better, but unfortunately the shading and style they used in this film looks extremely flat and shows no depth or "character" to the characters. They present a reason why the animation styles flip back and forth, but honestly, it's a horrible reason to do so, and they should have stuck with the actual drawn animation.
The story has no real solid plot until Stross's part comes up, and even then, it would only seem remotely interesting (or sensical) if you played the video games. His section of the film is basically a sci-fi version of an "outbreak" style movie, but localized around one person. It also once again involves a lot of the alien infected humans (Necromorphs), but just seeing them rip people up or watching them get torn apart like they do in the game is only entertaining for so long.
As a whole, the film is pretty boring to watch, especially if you have no desire to learn more about the Dead Space game universe. Any ties to the game story (a.k.a., what it's supposed to be explaining) are flimsy at best, and remember, if you're a Dead Space fan, you would be watching this to figure out what happened in the span of the two games.
Other then taking away the ability to watch Dead Space for an hour or two rather than playing, you're not missing much by not catching this movie. I'd personally recommend watching Downfall a second time, or just reading a synopsis of Aftermath instead. The "tie" that they were shooting for between games is completely useless from this movie, other then showing why Stross is the way he is (which isn't really necessary), and a throwaway shot of Isaac Clarke (who is the main hero of Dead Space 1 and 2).
4/10
---- Game related stuff ----
As part of the Downfall review, I compared the "standard" that the video game universe set for the films, and I'm going to once again do that for this review
Nerdy Cons #1 : Again, there is WAY too much cursing in the film...even more then the first one. In the first five minutes of the flick, they probably say "Fuck" about 10-15 times. Yes, I curse as do most people, but based off of the games, this is unacceptable to me.
Nerdy Cons #2 : There's a REALLY weird tie-in during the film where one of the workers is playing Dante's Inferno (the EA video game) on one of their little touch screens. It's not just a weird fake clip of the game either, it's 100% actual Dante's Inferno, with the rest of the crew commenting on the game itself (and the film tie-in that they did with the Dante game/movie as well). Dead Space (the first one) is set in the year 2508, which means I guess we're assuming that the Dead Space universe is based in "our" world, and that somehow, 500 years in the future, people are still playing Xbox games. Really?
Nerdy Cons #3 : Why the hell are there scenes of either fucking or bare breasts in this? Yes, we can file this film under "horror movie", and normally these types of flicks do have sex or naked girls, but this isn't that type of film (in my opinion). I do not give a shit how weird of a complaint this is, but there was never once in about 14 hours of Dead Space gaming where there was anything sexy or hot involved. Having tits in the film just for the hell of it, especially when it's made for a niche group, seems extremely pandering and out of place.
Nerdy Cons #4 : THEY STOLE THE GHOSTBUSTERS' PROTON PACK CHARGE SOUND FOR THE GUNS CHARGING.
Nerdy Pros #1 : Even with the weird animation style, I really feel like they nailed the way the engineer suits (the suit you wear during the game) look in this film. They are pretty much SPOT on with how the game always presented them, and it's much more satisfying to see the suits now. Along with that, they also show a few of the weapons from the actual game being used which are correct (with much cooler enemy splatter).
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