Movie: Resident Evil: Retribution
My Rating: 2 stars
This movie was kind of a piece of garbage. And, that’s a shame, because I really liked the first couple movies in the series. But, at this point, it seems like the studio is just trying to cash in on a profitable franchise without putting any actual effort into the story. And, there really isn’t any story development in this movie at all—just more of the same monsters, and guns, and ladies fighting in wildly impractical clothing. I think the executives must be just dragging the series out for as long as the public indicates that it’s willing to keep watching these things. And I guess that’s a good tactic, because I keep renting these things. I already feel invested in the story line, and I have positive feelings toward the early examples. But, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be satisfied doing that if the filmmakers and directors keep phoning it in. At the end of this movie, the story strongly indicated that there would, indeed, be another movie to follow, so we’ll just have to see.
This film just presents us with a whole bunch of stuff that had already been established in previous installments. The evil Umbrella Corporation has let loose a virus that has infected most living creatures in the world, turning them into horrible monsters. And, Alice (Mila Jovovich) is such a bad-ass lady, that she alone has the power to stop it. You know how these movies go. People who were bad in previous movies are now, all of a sudden, good. And, some good guys are now bad. It keeps flopping back and forth. And, the same is true in this movie. The evil, Red Queen computer is still trying to kill everyone. Alice learns more about Umbrella’s experiments. Then, she kicks butts and takes names. The usual.
I don’t think you need to go out of your way to watch this movie. Nothing really gets accomplished, and it’s pretty tedious. It’s just another gap filler. (I’m hoping they’re going to wrap up the series one of these years). Although, maybe you’re like me and feel an incurable compulsion to finish a series you’ve already invested so much time into it. In that case, go ahead and watch this one. But, understand that it will be a pretty disappointing experience. However, if you’re just into these movies for the pretty ladies, fighting in their skin-tight body suits, or floor-length, evening gowns, it’s got plenty of that. So, go for it.