Picking up where the last movie left
off, and I mean RIGHT where it left off, we begin the final (?)
encounter with Alice (Milla Jovovich) in the
not-much-to-do-with-the-games-except-for-the-name film about shooting
zombie monsters in the face. I've always been a fan of the Resident
Evil films, even if they did get 6/10 across the board, and this one
is no different. As with most of the previous films, we get
introduced to a new team who assist Alice, along with one or two
characters from a previous film. This time, we get to see people from
all four of the prequels in the same place, but I'll get to that in a
bit.
The story follows what we all know, the
deadly T-Virus has infected and spread, and Alice is needed to clean
it up. However, on this occasion, it's everyones favourite
guy-in-a-trenchcoat-who-isn't-Neo, Albert Wesker who is asking for
help.
After waking up imprisoned in the Prime
Umbrella testing facility, Alice escapes with the help of Wesker and
Ada Wong, and the information that the human race is in danger of
being wiped out if she doesn't do something about it. She is directed
to meet up with a rescue squad of Leon Kennedy, Barry Burton, 2 guys
who die too early for me to remember their names and..... wait for
it..... Luther West, the dude who survived Afterlife.
Who said the black guy always dies first! Along the way we meet old
friends Rain and One from the first film, and Carlos from Apocalypse
leaving only Ashley and Rebecca needed to catch them all! (I know
there are plenty more characters in the RE universe, but I really
wanted to make a Pokémon joke, ok?) With the corrupted Jill
Valentine hot on their heels and timed explosives set to flood the
underwater complex, Alice and co. have to get out, and fast. When
they eventually escape after drowning nearly every living and
unliving body, we are treated to the most exhilarating fight scene in
the quintilogy, if that is even a thing. Alice squares off with Jill,
while Rain does what she does best, kicks some ass. After the battle
is over, our heroes make their way to the Whitehouse to meet with
'President' Wesker, who shows them the true damage of the
T-Virus.....
While
not my favourite of the five, Retribution was still
fun/exciting/enjoyable to watch. It has all the things that RE film
fans want to see: Michelle Rodriguez doing her thang, Milla Jovovich
wearing nothing but a sheet of paper and um... er... some other
stuff? Probably explosions, zombies, huge gun battles and car chases
or something. While the acting was kind of rigid in places and some
of the lines seemed forced, I still really enjoyed myself and would
happily buy this on DVD if times were not changing to a more digital
and less physical entertainment industry. Even with trying to cram as
many characters from the games as possible into 90 minutes, I'd be
happy to have this in my collection.
After
reading the reviews from IMDB, who mostly gave it 1-3/10, I'm sad to
say I'm inclined to agree with them. There were plenty of things that
were unrealistic, unneeded or corny, but to me, that is what makes
the film. If it were true to life, it would be utter poop. Not to
mention that entire premise of the franchise is something that
doesn’t even exist. Sure there were parts that weren't top notch,
but I don't care. As long as I'm immersed in the film, it's all
gravy.
One to
watch only if you're a fan of the first four. - Two umbrellas out of
5
