Review: Dead Rising Watchtower

Disclosure: A copy of the movie was provided by Content Media Corp. for the purpose of review. Dead Rising: Watchtower got its international release in the UK, Ireland, Africa, and Australia; release in other territories will roll out throughout August and September.

There have been a lot of video game franchises that have been used as basis for movies, but not a whole lot of them translate very well into live action. Dead Rising: Watchtower is one of those movies.

Granted, Dead Rising: Watchtower isn’t based on a specific game, but is meant to bridge the gap between Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 3. The movie begins post-Fortune City Outbreak; within the Quarantine Zone, survivors are still waiting for the buses out, but it looks like the government might have just given up on them already. We have reporter Chase Carter and his camerawoman Jordan on the scene, with Chase getting desperate for that career-defining story and stumbling into the story of a lifetime.

A drug called Zombrex, manufactured by Phenotrans, was administered to survivors – all of whom carried the zombie virus in their blood – of the prior zombie outbreaks. Zombrex was the only drug available to stop them from turning, and Chase witnessed the drug fail. Survivors began turning, even those who’d supposedly received their daily dose, and panic ensues. Jordan tries to wait for Chase in their news van, but had to zoom off to avoid getting mauled, missing Chase by just a few seconds.

The rest of the movie plays out from two points of view: we’ve got Chase with Crystal and Maggie fighting for their lives inside the Quarantine Zone, while Jordan stays just outside the Quarantine Zone, trying to get to the bottom of the failed Zombrex mystery.

The story plays out very naturally, in that the revelations are not forced. Suspension of disbelief is a requirement in most movies, and it is very much required here. Battery life just does not last that long nowadays, and electrical tape does not hold things together very well (they should have used duct tape). The transition between events of DR2 and DR3 may have taken roughly two hours, but the movie served its intended purpose. There was closure for Maggie and Crystal, while also leaving the end open to Dead Rising 3’s story, care of Chase and Jordan’s storyline.

All in all, Dead Rising: Watchtower was a fairly enjoyable movie, though it will probably be harder to appreciate if you haven’t played the games. The trailers had me fooled, because a lot of the zombies’ acting is pretty campy at the beginning, but it actually got much better as the movie progressed. It’s worth watching if you’ve got a few hours to burn, as long as you don’t take it too seriously.

You can watch the trailer below.