'Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness' Trailer: Zombies Invade Washington D.C. In Netflix's Animated Film

Based on the hit horror video game franchise, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is a new CG-animated film coming to Netflix this summer. The story brings in familiar game characters Leon S. Kennedy (voiced by Nick Apostolides) and Claire Redfield (voiced by Stephanie Panisello) to deal with a zombie outbreak at the White House. Netflix has just released a new Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness trailer, and there's some impressive photorealistic animation on display here that calls back to the style used in the Final Fantasy movie so many years ago.

In Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Leon is investigating a hacking incident in Washington D.C. while Claire is petitioning the government to construct a welfare facility. During this chance reunion in the nation's capital, zombies start popping up, and not just the ones who have offices there.

For a movie based on a video game franchise that brings chills and thrills, there aren't many moments of pure terror in this trailer. If anything, it looks like a feature length video game cinematic where the environments look incredible detailed and realistic. The characters also look pretty good, and there's just enough distance from the uncanny valley that they don't weird anyone out.

Personally, I've never understood the appeal of animation style like this, especially when you could just get the same effect from playing a video game yourself, but maybe that's just me. Perhaps it's the Resident Evil universe itself that will make a movie like this appealing to longtime fans of the video game franchise. After all, this is the first time the franchise has been given a computer animated series like this, so maybe Netflix is just trying to see what sticks.

If this isn't what you want from the Resident Evil franchise, don't worry, because there's a new live-action adaptation of the franchise coming this fall, but we're still waiting for a proper first look at that. In the meantime, here's the official synopsis for Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness:

In 2006, there were traces of improper access to secret Presidential files found in the White House's computer network. American federal agent Leon S. Kennedy is among the group invited to the White House to investigate this incident, but when the lights suddenly go out, Leon and the SWAT team are forced to take down a horde of mysterious zombies. Meanwhile, TerraSave staff member Claire Redfield encounters a mysterious image drawn by a young boy in a country she visited, while providing support to refugees. Haunted by this drawing, which appears to be of a victim of viral infection, Claire starts her own investigation. The next morning, Claire visits the White House to request the construction of a welfare facility. There, she has a chance reunion with Leon and uses the opportunity to show him the boy's drawing. Leon seems to realize some sort of connection between the zombie outbreak at the White House and the strange drawing, but he tells Claire that there is no relation and leaves. In time, these two zombie outbreaks in distant countries lead to events that shake the nation to its very core.

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness arrives on Netflix on July 8, 2021.