Resident Evil: Retribution Reviews

We tend to forget it but the first Resident Evil was actually not bad at all. Ten years later, surprisingly, they still making some installments and, even more surprising, those sequels are more and more successful at the box-office. On the other hand, with those expensive 3D tickets, they have found a nice trick to increase their revenue, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm officially fed up with this franchise... Yesterday, Nick, my step-son, came home, announcing that he just bought a movie that I really wanted to see but even though I indeed wanted to watch this flick at some point, I could have easily waited a couple of years... Anyway, this flick was pretty awful. They start with showing the same action scene TWICE, first, in backward slow-motion and then in forward regular speed. Obviously, they thought it would look really cool but it was just the opposite, it felt really redundant. What followed was an abysmal story, with some tedious characters, even the action scenes were not really impressive. Even though I didn't like the other sequels, I always reminded open-minded and could find one or two redeeming features. Not this time though. The only fun thing was to see again Michelle Rodriguez after all those years but she was completely wasted in a terrible under-written double part. One more thing, the whole cloning thing was also completely stupid. Basically, it is a trick device which they can use to bring back any deceased character whenever they feel like it. To conclude, it was just pretty bad, they should stop dry milking this franchise and you probably shouldn't watch this flick. And guess what? They are already working on a 6th installment...

Since the showing of first movie of the series in 2002, The current one the resident evil retribution is the fourth one and the way the movie ended, seems like more to come.

The Resident Evil: Retribution story picks up from the last one, where: Alice (Jovovich) and other survivors were on the tanker hoping to escape from the clutches of evil, but an Umbrella strike force attack the tanker and took Alice as hostage back to Umbrella Corporation secret facility.

As a last resort to save badly affected human race by the biohazard, a rescue mission was launched to take Alice out of the under water umberella facility and from the clutches of red queen, rest is the typical stuff the film is known for.

One thing for sure, it seldom happens that too many sequels of a movie keep the intrest of movie lovers engaged! Even with typical stuff this movie grossed more than the last one in box office.

Since the showing of first movie of the series in 2002, The current one the resident evil retribution is the fourth one and the way the movie ended, seems like more to come.

The Resident Evil: Retribution story picks up from the last one, where: Alice (Jovovich) and other survivors were on the tanker hoping to escape from the clutches of evil, but an Umbrella strike force attack the tanker and took Alice as hostage back to Umbrella Corporation secret facility.

As a last resort to save badly affected human race by the biohazard, a rescue mission was launched to take Alice out of the under water umberella facility and from the clutches of red queen, rest is the typical stuff the film is known for.

One thing for sure, it seldom happens that too many sequels of a movie keep the intrest of movie lovers engaged! Even with typical stuff this movie grossed more than the last one in box office.

"My name is Alice, and this is my world."

Astonishingly, Resident Evil: Retribution shows a great deal of promise in its opening 15 minutes. After an action scene breathtakingly unfolds backwards in slow motion, writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson sets time aside to recap everything that's happened in the Resident Evil franchise so far, which miraculously allows the idiotic prior instalments to actually make sense. Better, a sequence set in suburbia has the tone of horror and tension that the Resident Evil films should've been about since the beginning. Alas, this is all just a tease. What follows is an exceedingly dumb 3-D fireworks display, with Anderson leaning on exactly the type of tired tropes which have kept this franchise in the doldrums since its inception. It certainly delivers a lot of stylised action which may satisfy the unfussy, but most everything else is dreadful.

Captured by the Umbrella Corporation, Alice (Milla Jovovich) finds herself imprisoned in an elaborate testing facility beneath the ice in Russia, with her now-brainwashed friend Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) torturing her for information. When a system reload gives Alice the chance to escape from her cell, she's approached by mortal enemy Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) and former Umbrella agent Ada Wong (Bingbing Li), who outline a way for Alice to get out of the underwater complex. With a strike team having descended upon the site to rescue them, Alice and Ada begin navigating the various simulated environments, battling hordes of zombies and machines along the way.

In one of the areas of the facility, Alice meets the hearing-impaired Becky (Aryana Engineer), a synthetic clone who believes Alice is her mother due to one of Umbrella's simulations. The introduction of a child admittedly introduces something new, but the rest of Retribution is pure regression. It's more or less a structural remake of the original 2002 film, with Alice fighting her way through an elaborate underground complex ruled by The Red Queen. The proverbial video game comparison is overused by critics, yet Retribution literally does feel like a video game. The broad strokes of its conceptual framework are fine, but the filling is pure video game formula. Every opportunity (no matter how minor) for an action scene is whole-heartedly embraced and over-played, resulting in mindless slo-mo carnage. It's a fast-paced movie, to be sure, but the formula grows weary as time goes by, and the mayhem grows tediously repetitive.

Admittedly, the picture benefits from fine technical specs. Cinematography is often impressively colourful and polished, while the 3-D presentation is surprisingly strong. Anderson has stated that he will never make a movie in 2-D again, so it's fortunate that the filmmaker is adept at three-dimensional effects. It doesn't necessarily add much to the experience, but it does amplify the fun factor of the action sequences. Furthermore, Tomandandy's score is exceedingly cool. Indeed, as B-grade fun, Retribution scrapes a mild pass due to its fast pace. Nevertheless, it seems that Anderson absolutely hates screenwriting, channelling very little effort into creating a frame on which to hang the dull-as-dishwasher characters and action sequences in familiar locations.

Resident Evil: Retribution is a powerfully dumb movie, littered with baffling character motivation and stupid moments. At about the halfway mark, for instance, we are introduced to a huge bulking beast which destroys and kills everything in its path. Later, said beast viciously attacks numerous characters before snatching Becky and carefully carrying her back to its hive. It was included for the sake of an Aliens moment, but makes no sense in context. By the same token, the zombies alternate between mindless marauders and moderately civilised soldiers who can fire weapons and drive jeeps. Furthermore, as the climax approaches, Jill holds Ada hostage with the intention of capturing Alice and co. But although Jill has the heroes at gunpoint and can easily capture them, she decides to release Ada, drop her gun and engage everyone in hand-to-hand combat. Seriously?! Plus, Jill has a mechanism on her chest which lets the Red Queen control her. After a 5-minute battle, Alice finally thinks to remove it. Why didn't Alice do this earlier? Retribution is an insult to anyone with an active brain, and it's impossible to overlook this malarkey no matter how intense the mayhem is.

A handful of mercenaries are introduced not long into the picture, but they are not bestowed with any semblance of depth. It would be foolhardy to expect fleshed-out characters, sure, but we don't even learn their names - they're just interchangeable guys carrying guns. The acting, meanwhile, is nothing to write home about. Jovovich is on the same level as she's always been (for better or for worse), while the likes of Michelle Rodriguez and Sienna Guillory don't seem to care very much. Out of the cast, the worst is Shawn Roberts, whose performance as Wesker is incredibly stiff and false.

To be fair, Resident Evil: Retribution is a whole lot better than the woefully boring Afterlife, which had too much talking and too little ass-kicking. Anderson probably heeded these complaints, so Retribution is pretty much wall-to-wall action. This is fine in theory, but we need some believable character motivation and coherent storytelling. Without it, the film is a forgettable special effects show-reel. When it ends, it leaves us with the promise that an all-out, balls-to-the-wall war picture is coming which may bring closure to the series at last. But it's hard to get your hopes up about the next film, considering that Afterlife squandered the delirious potential established in Extinction's climax, and Retribution shat on Afterlife's promising conclusion. Anderson keeps promising that goodness is to come, but never delivers.

5.2/10

To get it out there: These movies are bad but I enjoy them as guilty pleasures. That being said, this installment is an improvement over the last Resident Evil movie and it's almost as good as the first. Though, that's not saying much. With each installment they continue to move further away from the game so I have no idea why they even bother to call this Resident Evil anymore. Those who enjoy these movies as guilty pleasures the way I do, you probably won't be disappointed. Fans of the games and everyone look elsewhere.

It's pointless pointing out the problems with the film since they're the same problems from the other movies. Some truly awful acting with the exception of Milla Jovovich and a couple of other people. Hey, at least there's no Ali Larter. Some excruciatingly bad dialogue as well as a non existent plot and a thin story line. Like I said, same problems as the previous films.

However, despite all those things, I still enjoyed the movie. You pretty much get what you're expecting. A hot Milla Jovovich in a tight latex suit kicking some zombie ass and it is entertaining as hell. The story is different this time around, with some interesting twists. Though, none of it makes much sense and feels pointless, at least they're trying something different. That counts for something right? At least it's never boring.

The action this time around is better and more entertaining. The fights are well choreographed and as always with this series, are edited nicely so there's no annoying shaky cam which is always a plus. The visuals are better this time around, though one or two moments the budget showed. The 3-D is clearly used as a gimmick but it made the movie more fun and this is probably one of the better uses of the product. So if have a few bucks that you can shell out it wouldn't be bad to invest it in the 3-D. Since it was filmed in 3-D it's lot better than 80% of the movies that came out in 3-D this year(3-D wise, not as a whole). There's almost no blur, the light levels are what they should be, and the overall picture quality doesn't look murky.

The way this movie is left off the sixth film has the potential of actually being good. However, this movie as a whole is just a filler and seems pointless. That is, until the sixth movie comes out. Fans of this series as well as the people who just enjoy it as a guilty pleasure shouldn't be disappointed in this installment as it delivers what you'd expect, Milla Jovovich in a tight latex suit kicking zombie ass for 90 minutes. Yes the acting for the most part is awful, the dialogue is sometimes hilariously bad, and the story/plot are paper thin but that's been the case with every Resident Evil movie. The action and special effects are even better this time around and puts the 3-D to good use. I enjoyed this movie, it was fun even if it's as brainless as the undead in this movie.

for begin, i liked the rewind effect limited to the in/out water...
in the dream scene there are two famous and free surprises for scare and elevate tension (suddenly assalts and cars from nowhere)...
a thing i found strange is the Alice approach and gestures referred to the child, she seemed teasing her.
for the rest i'm gone to the cinema without any idea about the plot, but when i saw the group explain the plan i thought: "noooo, i'm not here for two hours of game, i want to watch a movie" from that moment was like to watch the course of a player through different levels.
the basic plot is trivial but there are many interesting inputs that maybe could be developped in a different way, unfortunately the action has always prevailed leaving space only to some citations: the pseudo earth locations are similar to "The Truman Show", infinite clones controlled by artificial intelligence remind to "The Matrix" and "I Robot" and for last but not least the implanted memories as in "Blade Runner". maybe there are others too, i accept suggestions, i'm curious.

OK, I get it... everyone wants to do Milla J, but beyond that (and except for Sienna and Michelle) - how can anyone merit this movie with even a mediocre rating? It has a nice twist, but two hours of high-tech brutality aren't really what I thought to constitute a movie. A video-game - maybe... but not a movie.