Resident Evil: Retribution 3D 2012

Not for newcomers

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Until this point, for all intents and purposes I hadn't seen any of Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil films (I think I saw the first, but don't remember it at all. Were there scary dogs in it?). Entering into a franchise at the fifth installment is probably not the best strategy, but so it was that I found myself sitting down for Resident Evil: Retribution, not entirely sure what to expect. I played a few of the games as a teenager, but again, nothing has really stuck with me. So, how does the movie fare with (essentially) a newcomer such as myself?

Not well. Not well at all.

Thankfully (or so I thought), Anderson opens the film with a lengthy sequence bringing viewers up to speed with the story so far, and surprisingly it seems that the Resident Evil film series has all but evolved past being about zombies. There are a few sequences involving the undead in Retribution, but the real antagonist here is a malevolent artificial intelligence, the Red Queen, who controls the central computer system of the nefarious Umbrella Corporation.

Early on the film is actually pretty fun, and shows potential. Our heroine Alice (Milla Jovovich) finds herself in an Umbrella testing facility, where the Red Queen runs simulations to see how the company's biological weapons affect various cities around the globe. Jovovich, perhaps the only thing holding this series together, fights her way through the Tokyo simulation, culminating in a highly entertaining hallway battle with a dozen zombies.

Unfortunately, it's at this point that Anderson drops Alice into the real story, which I can only assume is continuing from the previous films, as I really didn't understand or care what was happening. As a stand-alone film, Retribution simply doesn't do enough for first-time viewers. What little structure the narrative has never really builds to anything, and it's more or less one long gunfight with an inexplicable rescue mission mixed in. Aside from Jovovich, the acting is atrocious across the board, with particularly shoddy work from Sienna Guillory and Bingbing Li. The performances, and Anderson's direction, are appropriately on par with that of a bad video game cut-scene, and get so bad at times that it almost seems intentional.

Resident Evil: Retribution is not a film for new audiences but for die-hard followers of the franchise, although it's difficult to imagine even the most ardent fans finding much to enjoy here. Jovovich looks terrific and delivers the necessary butt-kicking, but that's really all there is to enjoy. Judging by the conclusion, the inevitable sixth film is probably going to be the last, although so little happens in Retribution that Anderson perhaps should have skipped this story all together and moved on the finish Alice's story sooner.

Side note: I'm no fan of 3-D, but surprisingly Anderson seems to be unafraid to have fun with the format. Although the film suffers from some of the worst light-loss (one of the biggest arguments against 3-D) I can remember, Anderson grabs the gimmick with both hands and is clearly having a blast throwing bullets, axes, and gallons of blood at the audience. The native 3-D (not post-converted) actually makes a difference, and if you must see this movie, then shelling out the extra couple of bucks might be worth it.

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Resident Dead : Ongoing

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Resident Evil : Retribution
I should just cut & paste from 'RE:Afterlife' as its very much along the same lines. Much like ACDC "why change a good thing?" RE is staying true to its roots. Little confussing for newbies, but for those that loved the previous installments, makes you jump, look at everything in Game Mode, & of cos the zombie attacks. Kinda cool in that sense. Few laughs, but mostly bland, apart from the Alice female figure.
Genre : horror, game on screen, adventure, action
2/5 : sorry but kinda drawing it out, 6 films! Great if you loved the others tho

Resident Cheeseburger

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Milla Jovovich stars as Alice for the fifth time, and her husband Paul WS Anderson directs a 'Resident Evil movie for the third time. Anderson wasn't always a byword for "complete and utter formulaic Hollywood sh*te based on a video game." Despite loathing his 'Mortal Combat' movie, I enjoyed his follow-ups, 'Event Horizon' and 'Soldier' as well-made sci-fi action fare on a par with films such as Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicles, 'Timecop' or 'Universal Soldier.' But following those promising diversions, Anderson plunged headfirst into the garbage pail with the likes of 'AVP: Alien vs. Predator', 'Resident Evil' and its sequel 'Afterlife' and now 'Retribution' - the fifth 'Resident Evil' movie (sixth if you count the CGI movie 'Degeneration'... seventh if you count the short film 'Biohazard 4D-Executer'... eighth if you count the currently in-production CGI movie 'Damnation'...)
Like the 'Underworld' series (in which director Len Wiseman ogles his wife Kate Beckinsale), 'Resident Evil' centres largely on the premise that a director with little originality or vision can get his wife to wear very very tight pvc, leather or otherwise body-hugging S&M-style garb and fly around in slo-mo firing guns in a manner not just reminiscent of 'The Matrix' - but copied entirely from it...
So basically if you're a video-game playing fourteen year-old this is 'Citizen Kane.' If you're a film fan who expects just a modicum of character, narrative or sense - forget it. This is strictly a high-tech cartoon writ large. The explosions and flying debris look great in 3D, as does Jovovich - but to pretend there's anything new here is like going into McDonalds every day to order a cheeseburger and on day five expecting something surprising and new that you've never tasted before...
And that's it really. It's a fast-food movie. Nothing new. It's just quick, easy and about as entertaining or nutritious for the mind as French fries dipped in ketchup.
Still, Milla looks great and lots of things go boom and bang and kerrranggity-crash. In 3D. So, there is that...

One star? I'll double that!

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Anyone who walks into this movie expecting anything even remotely approaching good only has themself to blame if they hate it. For me, with brain safely left at home on the couch, the movie was better than what I can vaguely remember of its predecessors. Any film that can make me jump in my seat deserves more than one star and this film did that. Just don't expect a decent story, or good acting, or a minute where there's no shooting and you'll be fine.

Gets two stars for including the Las Plagas Parasite

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Well technically i really should give it one star for not explaining what it was for anyone who has not played the game!!!
Now this movie should destroy anyones faith in a good resident evil horror movie, its pretty terrible movie in its own right let alone being part of the resident evil franchise. I was actually fairly optimistic for this movie as i was one of the few that actually enjoyed afterlife and thought it was a step in the right direction for the franchise. However the horrible trailer should have forwarned me that this movie would be crap. Terrible acting from pretty much everyone apart from mila and shawn roberts (who suspect knows the movie its not going to get any good reviews and just enjoys playing is role as wesker) plot holes galore, crappy writing and too much cheese that should not belong anywhere near anything resident evil related!!!!!!! 3D was generally pretty good like the last movie if you care about that stuff which is not many. The only redeeming features of this movie (and im stretching here) is the inclusion of the character Leon Kennedy (one of my fav characters from the game), the las plagas parasite (which was just cool i dont know why) and the sick dubstep song in the credits with Chino from deftones on the vocals (not movie related but oh well haha). Only see this movie if you want to see some incarnations of the biohazard enemies from the game everyone else should stay clear!

Bland

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It is still like the game but they do seem to be running out of ideas.Do not expect much of a story and you won't be disappointed.I still struggle with 3D and the light-loss.Would have rather seen it in 2D.As I was leaving I was trying to think what it was that I had just seen.A lot of mindless shooting!