The new installment for the Resident Evil film franchise is a simple movie with a very simple story paired with over the top special effects, chicks with guns, chicks with machetes and a lot of attitude.
The film picks up some time after the tragic ending to "Resident Evil Afterlife". We see Alice trapped in a holding cell controlled by Umbrella. She's tortured for information by Alice's former friend Jill Valentine now an agent of the Red Queen.
The new movie focuses on Alice's escape from the Umbrella facility she is being held captive. Just like X2/ God Loves Man Kills, Alice forms an uneasy alliance with Albert Wesker (reprised by Shawn Roberts) who sends his top agent Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) to infiltrate the facility and break out Alice.
Bingbing looks really great in this new movie. I'm starting to develop a crush on her.
RE: Retribution is a good flick to bring your friends along. It's got a lot of nice moments and you'll never get bored with all the eye candy (if eye candy refers to Jovovich, Bingbing, Guillory and Rodriguez; or it could also mean the fight scenes and the guns).
There are a few praise-worthy moments in this film storywise. We get to see Alice and Ada team up to fight those dreadful executioner majinis in the New York test area as well as that car chase featuring Leon S. Kennedy, Alice, some Russian cold war zombies and a giant-ass Licker.
There were some things that I didn't like about the movie though and rather than beat around the bush on those things, here's a list:
- The inclusion of Alice's old team was done pretty wrong in my opinion. There's like a million other people which they can clone so why do they go with the old cast from the first Resident Evil movie? Were they thrown into the story to rattle Alice's chains? So how come Alice was very calm about seeing Rodriguez's Rain Ocampo during the initial fire fight?
- The film makers never bothered to explain how the heck Wesker survived the explosion from RE: Afterlife. I mean the guy was pretty much dead when Alice left him on that plane so why is he back and sitting in the Oval Office?
- Leon S. Kennedy's character was pretty one sided on this movie. If you've played the RE 2 you'll know that he's a no-nonsense kind of guy but why does he have to be portrayed as kind of one-sided? Maybe it's really the choice of actor.
- Why oh why is that licker huge? It's telling the wrong thing about the classic RE baddie as lickers are only the size of humanoid. No way are they the size of buses. Plus as an end boss for Alice's subplot I kinda had a hard time accepting the fact that it was all over especially since it got killed by a bunch of grenades. Utterly lame.
- The dialogues and some humorous moments are really hard to swallow. I'd like to think that the guys who did the movie never even played (let alone finish) a single Resident Evil game (or Biohazard game if they're based in Japan).
Despite all the nega stuff I wrote above, there's still a bit of old school charm for Resident Evil : Retribution.
- Milla Jovovich is a bad ass in this movie. The costume she's wearing for this one sees to it she gets her seat at the next bad ass convention. Heck even when she was almost nude in the opening scene of the film she gets to look hot. It's only Ms. Jovovich who can kick zombie ass with nothing but a chain and a handgun and still look as fresh as a daisy.
- The sexpot Sienna Guillory also makes a full and triumphant comeback on this flick. She's definitely hotter with her costume (which is a representation of Jill Valentine's costume in Resident Evil 5). Rather than play the heroic sidekick, she goes on and becomes the lead villain on this one. A little compliment on her physique and hotness, Guillory looks super hawt whenever she does all those action poses with guns ablaze.
- We have to give credit to the acting of Aryana Engineer who plays Becky, Alice's adopted daughter. Great job kiddo.
- The whole plot is really accessible to newcomers and fans of the franchise. I give the producers a lot of credit also for getting people up to speed on what happened in the closing moments of the last movie. The opening sequence which is in reverse is also visually appealing.
- Without spoiling the ending, I'm really looking forward to see a real ending for Resident Evil. It's not that it's not entertaining but the Alice bit is so overused. They have a rich cast of characters who can play heroes (remember the Redfields were never 'dead' in this film franchise, perhaps a bit of Code Veronica is in order?)
Do stay for the end credit not for a post-credit scene but to give a listen to the film's closing track which is sung by Bassnectar together with Chino Moreno of Deftones fame.
Resident Evil Retribution is a movie that continues an entertaining legacy. Perfect film for Resident Evil fans both new and old. It's got a nice mix of old and new characters and very fast paced.
VERDICT: 8/10
Special thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines for this movie. Please like them on their official Facebook page by clicking HERE.
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