Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I honestly never thought I'd be sitting in the position to review the 5th, and soon to be 6th, film of the Resident Evil franchise. Usually by the time a franchise is 5 films and over a decade old, the series has gone through many changes and underwent several aesthetic iterations. You'd think they would reinvent the films several times over right? Well, with Resident Evil it's more of the same with every movie.Each film has their entertaining qualities. 'Retribution' has probably the finest action and most polished visual effects of the entire series, but there's nothing under the surface. It should come as no surprise to people familiar with the series as each film holds the same problem, but I'm foolish enough to think the next film will change. Here's hoping that 'The Final Chapter' does more than just impress the eyes.The funny thing is, 'Retribution' plays like it already is the "final chapter". Bringing back Michelle Rodriquez, Sienna Guillory, Boris Kodjoe, Oded Fehr, and Shawn Roberts, all of which whose characters were supposedly dead to the franchise. Which brings me to the most frustrating thing about this series. Characters come and go, actors come and go, settings come and go, without any real direction. It seems to me like every time one of these films goes into production they try to gather everyone from the franchise that they can, and then try to write a story around the actors. The story should always come first. This is the reason why when characters die in any Resident Evil film there is no emotional impact. Is it asking too much to develop characters a bit more in an action film?I can't say I can differentiate the plot of this film to any other in the series. Alice is going after Umbrella with the help of her friends and is forced to take on creatures of higher abilities and everyone's lives are at stake. There's nothing new and it's actually likely the least inventive of the series. Some cool action and certainly some polished CGI can save the experience. I guess.+Nice action/CGI-Characters come and go, and who really cares?-The story is exactly the same as it always is4.1/10

I can't begin to describe the full awfulness of this sad, boring, predictable, yet incomprehensible movie. WHY does the bad guy exist? WHY does he want the entire world destroyed by zombies? WHAT exactly does the corporation get out of this wholesale destruction of everything? This movie was so silly, so nonsensical that I'm having trouble giving an accurate review. Just nonstop violence, nonsensical dialogue, a plot that is incapable of being followed. I HATE this movie and I LOVED the first one. This is a waste of time for anyone, even a fan of the franchise. The violence does not come close to making up for the lack of plot or sensible dialogue.

I was stunned at how awesomely bad this sequel is. Of its 117 minute running time, it featured maybe 3 minutes of dialogue, and they were badly written. The rest of the film was filled with battle sequences that, while fairly visually impressive, are ridiculously long, tedious and, once it passes the ten minute mark for one battle, very boring. Shoddy script, appalling miscasting of Johann Urb(-a-derp) as Leon, and an extremely weird performance from Li Bingbing as Ada, as it appears they've overdubbed every single one of her lines in post-production. Even given the relatively low expectations of the Resident Evil films, this one is a dud. Awful, awful, awful.

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012): Dir: Paul W.S. Anderson / Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Li Bingbing, Shawn Roberts: The fifth and unfortunately not the final showcase of this sh*t box franchise. Its subtitle regards the mending of losses although the ending pretty much sidelines any hope of that. It is just another excuse for mindless violence with people getting mauled by zombie or demonic type creatures. Milla Jovovich is a symbol of hope and is a real trooper to go through the routine again. She looks great in her skin tight black sex suit where she pulls out revolvers and large knives. She is still fighting that pesky Umbrella Corporation and the hit is out on Miss Milla who can scrap with the best of them. In fact, we have lots of feisty females in this gem. Michelle Rodriguez growls and spits bullets out her finger tips. Then she beats the tar out of two guys who just don't know when to quit. Sienna Guillory is under some sort of trance and is helping the Umbrella crew and the laughable Red Queen. She will engage in a nifty fist fight with Jovovich in the ice cold. Then we have Li Bingbing as a contact who helps Jovovich until she gets her ass caught. With the exception of Jovovich, these characters are airheads with no intention of doing anything remotely intelligent. The special effects are great with its reds and whites, and director Paul W.S. Anderson delivers an effective slow motion action opener, but his Three Musketeers is far more fun. So, the subtitle lies. There is no real retribution. Not even for the audience who must suffer through this and another bloody geek show. Score: 3 ½ / 10