Rated
R (Sequences of Strong Violence Throughout)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 36 Minutes
Cast-
Milla
Jovovich-Alice
Sienna
Guillory-Jill Valentine
Michelle
Rodriguez-Rain Ocampo
Li
Bing-Bing-Ada Wong
Johann
Urb-Leon S. Kennedy
Boris
Kodjoe-Luther West
Kevin
Durand-Barry Burton
Oded
Fehr-Carlos Olivera
Colin
Salmon-James 'One' Shade
Shawn
Roberts-Albert Wesker
Aryana
Engineer-Becky
Megan
Charpentier/Ave Merson-O'Brian-The Red Queen
Ali
Larter-Claire Redfield (archive footage only)
Wentworth
Miller-Chris Redfield (archive footage only)
Directed
by Paul W.S. Anderson
 |
| Milla Jovovich suits up again to kick some zombie butt for "Resident Evil Retribution," the fifth installment in this never-ending series. |
Like
clockwork, Activision releases a new Call
of Duty video game annually every November with only the smallest of changes between new
installments; only the time period in which the game takes place in changes.
Despite the increasing disillusionment among gamers with the franchise, Call of Duty continues to sell millions
of copies around the world and it's due to the fact that there are many people out
there who only play this one game year
after year. Just to put this in perspective, last year's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 sold over 6.5 million copies across
all platforms in the first 24 hours in the U.S. and U.K. alone, grossing a
massive $400 million and making it the biggest entertainment launch of all
time. Call of Duty is a series that
will never end so long as there is money to be made. Similarly, the
"Resident Evil" film franchise, based upon the video games owned and
published by Capcom, continues to soldier on like the Energizer Bunny with the
latest installment "Resident Evil Retribution." The series has always
managed to turn a profit at the box office for Screen Gems/Sony Pictures thanks
to the modest production budgets, with 2010's "Resident Evil
Afterlife" earning $296 million worldwide. The previous four films have grossed
$754.5 million combined. Frankly, I'm amazed that "Resident Evil"
managed to even last this long and
while it has always provided some cheap thrills thanks to the action scenes,
the series is now way past its
expiration date. Lacking any coherent plot or even worthwhile characters,
"Resident Evil Retribution" offers more of the same and not much
else. Those who are already fans of the films will be satisfied but for
everyone else, this is just a lazy, cynical cash-grab.
Picking up immediately after
the events of "Afterlife," Alice (Milla Jovovich), Claire and Chris
Redfield (Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller) are under attack by soldiers
employed by the unscrupulous Umbrella Corporation, led by a mind-controlled
Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory). They storm the freighter Arcadia and during the ensuing battle, Alice is knocked unconscious
into the ocean while Claire and Chris are captured. Waking up deep inside an
Umbrella facility, Alice is interrogated by Jill but a sudden power failure
allows her to escape. Alice finds herself in downtown Tokyo and is forced to
battle with a horde of zombies. She makes her way to the facility's control
room and encounters Ada Wong (Li Bing-Bing), an assassin for Umbrella who now
works for Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). Wesker explains to Alice that she is
currently trapped in an underwater facility in what was formerly Russia where
Umbrella would run simulations for prospective customers who were curious in how
people would react to a particular outbreak. However, the facility is now under
the control of the Red Queen (voice of Ave Merson-O'Brian), an advanced
artificial intelligence now hell-bent on destroying the remnants of humanity.
Despite his sinister intentions, Wesker wants to help Alice escape and has a sent a small strike team, led by Leon
S. Kennedy (Johann Urb), to assist her. To prevent their escape, the Red Queen
sends Jill and a group of Umbrella soldiers consisting of clones of Carlos
Olivera (Oded Fehr), Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez), and James 'One' Shade
(Colin Salmon) to recapture Alice: dead or alive.
Written and directed by Paul
W.S. Anderson (not Paul Thomas
Anderson!), "Resident Evil Retribution" has absolutely zero plot and is basically a string of
repetitive action scenes. The whole affair comes off as labored because the
film spends an inordinate amount of time recounting all the events of the previous installments while setting this one
up, resulting in clunky scenes of exposition that buckle under the weight of
all that back-story. Obvious logic gaps are peppered throughout the film, such
as the fact that there's a combat suit located within a drawer in Alice's cell
or the inexplicable two hour time limit before Umbrella's reinforcements
arrive. You would think such an important facility would have a standing army
or something but Umbrella's security measures have always been confusingly lax.
Anderson even rips off of "Aliens" by throwing a deaf little girl (Aryana
Engineer) who believes Alice is her mother but its inclusion just feels
ham-fisted and pointless because there is no attempt at developing any of the
characters.
Structured like the video games it's based on,
"Retribution" puts Alice in a massive underwater Umbrella facility
that is able to produce lifelike simulations of New York City, Moscow, and
Tokyo, all populated by clones. In order to escape, Alice must advance through
each simulation like levels in a video game, complete with obligatory boss
battles. However, Anderson just recycles the same old monsters from the previous
installments. Instead of one
Executioner, now there are two but
both are beaten just as easily, along with an Uber-Licker that makes an
appearance late in the film. The set-pieces also feel rather constrained
despite its attempts to aim for a bigger scope. To appease the fans, Anderson
randomly throws in a couple of characters from the video games like Ada Wong
and Leon S. Kennedy but they're just dropped into the plot with little to no
introduction. The action is non-stop and while Milla Jovovich looks good in her
form-fitting suit, these scenes ultimately grow tedious because it's the same
damn thing we've been watching for the past ten
years! The only element that I can praise without reservation is the score
from Tomandandy, which is reminiscent of Daft Punk's work on "Tron
Legacy." "Retribution" was shot in native 3D using the cheaper
Red Epic camera instead of the Sony F35 like in "Afterlife" but I
opted for the 2D version. I could still tell that the 3D is nothing more than a
gimmick as all manners of blood and projectiles fly out of the screen. The
entire film also exhibits a cheaper vibe despite having a similar production
budget as the previous one.
Besides looking good during the numerous shootouts,
none of the cast is really required to actually act. Li Bing-Bing's Ada Wong is a victim of some poor voice dubbing
but Milla Jovovich continues to be a bad-ass and prove she has good genes
thanks to her youthful appearance. Her 'performance' leaves much to be desired
yet she's still the best out of the bunch as everyone else is reduced to
shouting all their dialogue. Since Anderson can't be bothered to include at
least some character development, the
cast is left with very little to work with.
Opening in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D, "Resident
Evil Retribution" was released on September 14, 2012 to largely negative
reviews (to no one's surprise) with 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics once again wrote
if off as 'another predictable entry in the Resident
Evil franchise that seems to get more cynical and lazy with each film.' Due
to the slow box office, "Retribution" underwhelmed during opening
weekend with only $21.05 million, down from the $26.7 million that
"Afterlife" earned two years ago. It also plummeted by 77% during its second week, which means
the film will barely top 2002 original but sell far fewer tickets. Audience
attendance was also rather sparse during the afternoon showing I attended. If
you're in the mood for some mindless action, "Resident Evil
Retribution" will scratch that itch but this is a series that should've
been put out to pasture long ago…but it won't so I'll see you all back here in
two years for "Resident Evil 6."
Final
Rating: 2 out of 5
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