Film: Resident Evil: Retribution
Release Date: Sept. 14th
Studio: Constantin Film
Grade: D
Hopefully Resident Evil: Retribution will be the headshot that puts down this abhorrent zombie film series for good.
The latest release from husband and wife writer/director team Paul W.S. Anderson and star/model Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil: Afterlife) is the latest release in the cavalcade of horribleness that is the Resident Evil film series, and Retribution is just as unapologetically bad as was expected.
Retributionstarts off with absurdly overpowered protagonist Alice (Jovovich) locked in a secret underground facility owned by the Umbrella Corporation, an evil conglomerate making millions selling biological weapons. Umbrella's master computer system, named The Red Queen, will stop at nothing to destroy all of humanity.
From the opening scene, it's clear this film has problems. As the opening credits roll, the audience is treated to a slow-motion shot of an action scene, but shown in reverse.
At first this was an interesting directorial decision, but any hopes for a halfway decent film were shattered when the same scene is shownagain, only this time, normally.
The film opens with the main character clearly alive, to then show the action scene that precedes this removes all tension and conflict. Since the audience knows that the main character is safe, any potential drama in the scene instantly vanishes.
It becomes immediately obvious that Retribution has no interest in creating a cohesive plot and instead only concerns itself with action scenes, which would be fine if they could even do that right. The number of good action scenes in Retribution can be counted on your crotch; there's only one of them.
In fact, the whole plot is just an excuse for large-scale, yet predictably stale action scenes. The testing facility where Retribution takes place has holographic versions of major cities such as New York City, Moscow and Tokyo where biological weapons are tested. Naturally, Alice and her team of poorly developed characters have to blast their way through an assortment of set pieces just to get to a predictable sequel bait ending.
There is no sense of drama or tension in any scene in the film; all the actors wear completely wooden faces no matter what obstacle faces them. There is neither fear nor compassion in the eyes of protagonist Alice, whether she faces an endless zombie horde or an innocent young girl, and this often-hilarious lack of acting talent is sadly present throughout the entire film.
This film was just bad in every sense of the word. Stay as far away from this one as you can.
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