About The Movie:
Resident
Evil: Retribution story picks up (literally) where the last film left
off: Alice (Jovovich) and her allies are stranded on the Arcadia
tanker with an Umbrella strike force ready to attack. After an explosive
shootout, Alice is taken hostage by the Umbrella Corporation and moved to a
secret facility – where she is interrogated by her former friend Jill Valentine
(Sienna Guillory), who is under the control of anti-humanity super computer,
The Red Queen. In order to rescue Alice, who holds the key to a powerful
weapon, Ada Wong (Bingbing Li), Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb), Barry Burton
(Kevin Durand), and returning partner-in-zombie killing Luther West (Boris
Kodjoe) lead a strike on the Umbrella facility – fighting through a number of
“biohazards” (creatures and people that have been mutated by T-Virus and Las
Plagas infections). However, as the team moves from one branch of the facility
to the next, new horrors and even some long-awaited answers are unearthed.
What Is Good/Bad About The Movie:
While it’s
pretty much business as usual in this latest Resident Evil film, Retribution at
least feels more like a video game than the last few sequels have. There are
different levels the characters have to fight their way through, with different
boss battles along the way. Fans who have long wanted to see characters such as
Ada Wong or Leon S. Kennedy finally appear in the film series will be
momentarily happy to see them; momentarily, because Barry and Leon don’t have
much to do except shoot at things. Even Ada is a cipher, but haven’t we come to
expect thin characterizations from this franchise by now?
Alice is the only character given
anything close to resembling an emotional journey. Jovovich plays the character
far more human and vulnerable than we’re used to seeing; being stripped of her
powers and meeting a young girl awakens not only Alice’s emotional side, but
her maternal one as well. Alice’s “origin” allows Jovovich to play a version of
Alice who is ordinary, fearful and unaccustomed to violence. Everyone else is
just along for the ride, although the Red Queen makes for a much better baddie
this time than Wesker (whose agenda here contradicts much of what he did in the
past).
You don’t actually need to see
the first four films in order to watch and understand Resident Evil:
Retribution. There’s a lengthy recap of the events of the past films in the
prologue that allows newbies to just dive in. The opening is a bit tiresome in
its replay of the ending of the previous film, but all you really need to know
to follow this story is summed up in the prologue.
Resident
Evil: Retribution, of course, has its fair share of action, from some rather
pedestrian shootouts to some brutal hand-to-hand combat between Alice and Jill
Valentine (including some blows that really should have left one of them
crippled, or at the very least with broken bones). The highlight set-piece is a
car chase in Moscow’s Red Square (Russian military zombies look pretty cool on
motorcycles and tanks). While there are still some silly “crap coming at you”
shots, overall the 3D in this film is used more for environmental effect than
it was in Afterlife.
Even with all of its dopey dialogue,
wooden characters and “been there, done that” elements, Resident Evil:
Retribution is pretty decent as far as entries in this series go. It’s
certainly feels more like a video game and has a bit more emotion to it than
some of the past Resident Evil sequels, but if you don’t like this series then
there’s not much here to make you suddenly warm up to it. And if you do like
the Resident Evil films, then you’ll likely leave the cinema content with how
you’ve spent your time.
What Is Bad About The Movie:
C-
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