After the shoot out on Arcadia between
Umbrella and the survivors on the ship, Alice wakes up in an Umbrella Corporation
testing facility in Russia near the Artic
Circle. She is being interrogated by Jill Valentine
(who is under the control of a red metal scarab) before the power is shutdown which gives Alice
a chance to escape. She stumbles upon several different simulations and
gains an ally named Ada who is working with Wesker. Wesker wants Alice rescued as the film reveals the Red
Queen is controlling the remains of the Umbrella Corporation with the ultimate goal of destroying the human race once and
for all.
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION has a few good
action scenes and a great score, but the film feels like an incomplete follow-up to RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE. Paul W.S. Anderson originally thought of shooting the fifth and sixth film back to back where I think he
could have probably took what he has planned for the sixth film and combined it with this one for a good over two hour film
instead of a 95 minute that feels a little long and lacking character development. It
is nice to see old actors back playing good and evil versions of new characters (Oded Fehr, Michele Rodriguez), but any
dvelopment of those characters are glossed over for action and anything to move it to the next set piece and get the train
rolling to the cliffhanger conclusion.
I
liked the first four films with the first and fourth films being the best of the series with this latest entry in the RESIDENT
EVIL film series being the weakest. I do hear there is an alternate cut
that gives more breathing space between action scenes as this sequel plays too much like action scene after action scene resulting
in a movie that seems to be playing out time too much as it waits for the conclusion.
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION plays out too much like a video game on screen and you have unanswered questions like where
did Claire, her brother, and K-Mart go after the climax of the last film. I
hope the next film shows those three characters return, but the climax feels like a reset in a way to set up for the final
movie. It was nice seeing Jill Valentine again even though she is under
the control of Umbrella. I just hope the inevitable finale is
worth the wait and it gives one hell of a send-off for this series.
This review is (c)9-15-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com