I know that many people enjoyed last year’s Dead Rising: Watchtower. Unfortunately, it didn’t gel with me as much as I’d hoped it would. That being said, one of the highlights was Rob Riggle’s performance as Frank West (despite being relegated to a side character), and the production values were certainly impressive. And the film gave Sony an excuse to use its Crackle service. Now over a year later, and we have Dead Rising: Endgame. No sign of Rob Riggle this time around, but Jesse Metcalfe’s Chase Carter is back to delve deeper into another government conspiracy involving the US military. Question is, can the film improve upon the shortcomings of the original?

Taking place between Dead Rising 2 and 3, Chase (Metcalfe) has gone back into the quarantined zone of East Mission City, Oregon. The military is still using the drug known as Zombrex to control the infected population, but has implemented a new way of administering the drug via implanted chips. However, this being the US military, the chips are also being used as homing beacons to spy on infected citizens. Worse still, Chase discovers that the military, while doing some illegal backroom deals, also has a killswitch with the chips. If activated, the chips could administer a lethal dose of Zombrex to those citizens. Aided by his ragtag group of friends, Chase must now work to stop the military’s plan.

Just as director Zach Lipovsky did with the previous film, Endgame‘s director Pat Williams attempts to tap into the mayhem from the videogames, albeit this time with a more subdued take. The weapon combos are back, but instead of the wacky over-the-top combinations from the first film, this time it’s more along the lines of sawblades strapped to pipes and nailbats. To be fair, that seems far more plausible in the film world than in a video game world (and was one of my problems with the first film). You quickly get the sense that Williams is trying to do more of a zombie action film, rather than a straight-up loveletter to the videogames. In the splatter category, there’s again a sense of things being taken down a notch. The over-the-top mayhem has given way to less hectic action sequences, but not so much that the sequences are devoid of any intensity. You still get moments of zombies being run over, impaled, a flare down the throat, and a mashed-to-a-pulp head (again with some CGI blood). It’s an interesting step to take, though as you’ll see, not entirely without problems.

Along with Metcalfe returning, we also get Dennis Haysbert’s General Lyons showing up as the film’s antagonist. Haysbert this time around is given more to work with in his role, and it definitely helps to flesh out and develop his character. He doesn’t quite nail the delivery in spots, but the added exposure goes a long way in giving more substance to the role. Metcalfe does pretty much the same as he did with the role in the previous film, but like Haysbert, he has a few moments were the delivery misses the mark. Ian Tracey’s turn as Hancock is delightfully skeezy, and the guy definitely deserves his fate (although guys might be squealing in pain as much as him). Billy Zane does Billy Zane as Rand, which despite being only five minutes on-screen, is always a treat. Fans of Dead Rising 2 will have Victor Webster as that game’s protagonist Chuck Greene making an appearance, while the ladies have Marie Avgeropoulos kicking ass and turning in a strong performance as hacker Sandra Lowe.

Now obviously, the decision to take a more serious tone with this film won’t sit well with diehard Dead Rising fans, especially those who enjoyed the zaniness of Watchtower. Even though I didn’t entirely enjoy the adherence to the game’s universe in the previous film, I did appreciate the use of its humour, especially from Rob Riggle’s performance. Well, Riggle’s not here, and neither is the humour. This becomes all the more apparent when Endgame becomes tedious from characters standing around talking. A lot. It becomes a chore to sit through, especially when unlike the first film, the cinematography is so routine. You have none of the fun zombie POV shots, none of those continuous shots of battling on top of a bus and the like. Instead, you have shots of someone talking to a character offscreen, then a cut to that character responding to the first character (who is now offscreen). Then of course you have the zombies, which all look the same, with the same pale makeup and cheap-looking appliances, or just generically bald. So much for those production values from the first film.

Dead Rising: Endgame tries to take a more realistic tone compared to the first film, but in doing so, takes away the charms of the first film. For all of its flaws, after sitting through Endgame, Watchtower still has more entertainment value. Endgame takes away the humour and ridiculousness of the first film, turning it into a dry and pedestrian 96 minutes. There’s tension in the action sequences, but it’s all robbed of any impact when the dull talkie moments with equally-dull camerawork pulls the pacing to the side of the road. Diehards videogame fans will be disappointed that the film has none of the ludicrous tone of the first, and the rest will wonder why they bothered with this film at all. You’re better off playing the games and waiting for Dead Rising 4.