RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 3D (2012) Review

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez

The last 10 years have given birth to 5 RESIDENT EVIL feature films (7 if you include the two animated movies) and I can only imagine that there will be more to come. I actually thought the first film was a decent effort, but then with each progressive sequel the franchise quickly became tired and it was all just more of the same. But one thing is certain with the RE films, and that's the fact that Milla Jovovich will spend almost all of her screen time kicking ass in a skin-tight outfit. I mean that's the only reason half of us go to see these films right?

Beginning with a fancy slow-motion reverse action sequence, RETRIBUTION picks up from where AFTERLIFE left us. We are then treated to an unnecessary recap of the entire freaking franchise before the reverse slo-mo action sequence we just watched plays through again, this time at full speed and the right way around. Somehow Paul W.S. Anderson has managed to turn a 30 second action sequence into a 5 minute spectacle. But anyway, back to the 'story'. Alice (Jovovich) is knocked out and wakes up to find herself in a secret Umbrella facility, her old pal Jill Valntine (Guillory) is interrogating her. Soon somebody hacks the computers and Alice is busted out of her chamber only to find herself strangely in the centre of what looks like Tokyo. Zombies attack, she kills them and so on and so forth. She meets Ada Wong who tells her that Albert Wesker is helping her escape, and she isn't in Tokyo but instead a secret underwater Umbrella facility where bioweapons tests are carried out. The facility is used to simulate cities like Moscow, New York and Tokyo. Wesker has sent a team down to help free Alice because they need her to help save mankind or something. 

In short, Alice and friends are trapped in an underground facility, and they have to escape. It's as simple as that really. There's some stuff about clones and a little girl Alice becomes attached to but those things aren't really important. Otherwise though this is just the same as the previous franchise entries, albeit a lot bigger. 

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION could almost be called the ultimate RE film because they have tried to cram absolutely everything they could think of into it. Fight scenes across New York City, Moscow and Tokyo, zombies, Las Plagas, lickers (giant motherfucking lickers), those humongous axe-men and bullets flying all over the damn place. They've even recycled some elements from previous films, that slice-and-dice laser grid from the first movie is back, the Red Queen makes another appearance, and even characters who died are back for more. It's completely over-the-top fucking ridiculous. But is that a bad thing? Well not really, because I'm assuming most people aren't expecting Oscar winning performances or character driven storylines when they go see an RE film. When you see one you expect slow-motion, physics-defying action sequences, guns that never run out of ammo, hordes of zombies, explosions and Milla kicking serious ass.
And that's exactly what this film delivers. 

Having said that, it still isn't a great movie. Although it's probably one of the best in the franchise (and that's not really saying much) it still has plenty of flaws. Too much CGI, terrible acting (Sienna Guillory is most guilty of this), and too many added elements which really don't need to be there. It also uses the 3D to throw lots of things towards the screen, but that's about it. It's not very immersive. But as I said, this is exactly what you'd expect from one of these movies, nothing more, nothing less. And at least it's better than AFTERLIFE which is a step in the right direction. And of course the ending is just begging for yet another sequel so stay tuned for that.