Releasing in the same year as its video game counterpart, Downfall premiered at the Sci-Fi-London film festival and then released as a direct-to-video before receiving a television showing on the Starz Encore channel (owned by Lions Gate Entertainment). By 2019, Downfall had earned $1,655,000 in DVD sales.
Opening Song: N/A
Credits Song: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (by Jason Graves)
Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis of the plot and my opinions at the very end.
Summary:
Set in the year 2508, during a period where humanity has narrowly avoided extinction due to resource depletion, the Church of Unitology
has funded an illegal mining operation on the planet Aegis VII, where
Colony geologist, Jennifer Barrows, discovers a monolith-like artifact
known as a "Red Marker". The Church believes humanity was created
by an advanced alien race and will be reunited with them in the Heavens
upon death. The Markers are believed to be the key to this transition.
The USG Ishimura
spaceship is called in to retrieve the Red Marker, despite concerns
from security chief Alissa Vincent over the development of erratic
behavior and psychosis in the Aegis VII colony since the Marker's
discovery. During loading, several disruptions too strong to be
electromagnetic surges from the planet impact the ship's power supply,
which Second Officer J. Chic suggests could just be a glitch in the
system. However, First Officer D. White notices a similarity to his
experiences with radar jamming back on earth. Captain Mathius tries
contacting the dig foreman Colin Barrow to get answers, but is unable to
reach anyone.
When the Ishimura manages to reestablish communication with the colony, feedback indicates that most colonists are now deceased or under attack from an unknown entity. The medic Dr. Terrence Kyne suggests calling for backup, but Captain Mathius is hesitant given that they are in a restricted system. He also refuses to contact the Church for "guidance" because only a third of his crew are of the Faith and likley to mutiny. Meanwhile, those Unitologists among the crew demand to see their holy relic. However, engineering specialist Samuel Irons manages to disperse the crowd by insisting the Church must inspect the Red Marker first if they are to be enlightened by its meaning.
"We must pray for our fellow pilgrims on the surface of the planet whose lives may be in danger. Set the example that we Unitologists are not hysterical fanatics. We respect the orders of our Captain." -Samuel Irons
An incoming shuttle containing Colin Barrow and his wife Jennifer Barrow is ordered to return to Aegis VII, but forcefully lands on the Ishimura anyway. Upon inspecting the ship, Vincent finds a concerning amount of blood and evidence of the pilot having fled the scene. Vincent and her team consisting of Ramirez, Hanson, Shen, Pendleton and Dobbs follow the trail to the Ship's morgue, where Dobbs is attacked and killed by a re-animated corpse known as a "Necromorph". Pendleton is also killed during a shootout with Slasher (scythe arm) necromorphs in the cafeteria. The surviving members of the team meet up with Samuel Irons and on his advice arm themselves with laser tools used by the miners.
"I think this is a test of our faith." -Captain Mathius
Captain Mathius orders the ship locked down to contain the infestation
and proceeds with plans to deliver the Marker to Earth, against Dr.
Kyne's advice. Growing increasingly paranoid, the Captain starts ranting
about a "universal awakening" and "religious persecution",
and comes to the conclusion that Kyne is trying to poison him. The
Captain is killed accidentally while the crew tries to restrain him. An
alarm then alerts the crew to escape pods being launched sequentially
without anyone aboard, stranding everyone on the Ishimura.
En route to the bridge, Vincent's team is attacked by Slasher, Pregnant (bloated belly) and Lurker
(baby) Necromorphs. Hanson looses his mind during the fight and slices
Shen in half before turning on Vincent. Ramirez is forced to shoot
Hanson dead to save the remaining squad members. On the bridge, Vincent
learns of the Captain's death and catches Kyne in a video feed
deactivating the Ishimura's engines in an attempt to crash the ship into
the planet below.
Realizing he is succumbing to the hallucinogenic effects of the Red Marker, Irons volunteers to stay behind in an effort to save the remaining crew members by sacrificing himself.
When Kyne is confronted, he explains that the Marker kept the Necromorphs sealed on Aegis VII and now they must not allow the infection to spread. However, Vincent believes it can be cured and stabilizes the Ishimura in a decaying orbit. Now starting to feel the effects of the Marker on her mind, Vincent leaves a video message before attempting to escape on the crashed colony shuttle. She fails to get inside the shuttle in time and is sucked out the bay doors into the vacuum of space along with nearby Necromorphs. Sometime later the vessel UGS Kellion picks up a distress signal from the Ishimura and prepares to dock.
"We have been deceived into believing there are space gods. Unitology is a lie. The lie is the mechanism for control. It brought us here under false pretenses." -Dr. Terrence Kyne
Final Thoughts
Downfall doesn't bring much to the table. There are no big lore
revelations, no wow moments, and few memorable characters. The character
movement is robotic with choppy animation, and the gore and occasional
full-frontal nudity was just not creepy or deep enough to leave an
impression. It was better than I was expecting for a video game tie-in,
though. There isn't a lot of lingo or world-building that needs to be
established, and the narrative is decently paced with a straightforward
plot that non-gamers should find easy to follow. I was also surprised at
the inclusion of a likable person of faith, especially given the
subject matter. It is not uncommon for such a character type to be
portrayed as pushy, intolerant or insane, but Samuel Irons comes off as
one of the more calm and level-headed members of the Ishimura crew. I
was sad to see him go.
Have you seen Downfall? What were your thoughts?
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment