This is it. This is the point of no return for the series. I think Retribution is, finally, the film in the series that completely drops the flimsy pretense of realism, stakes, and narrative that existed to varying degrees in the previous four films. This is finally the film that accepts what it is: an over-the-top cheesy action schlock-fest. Prior to this, the series flirted with the schlock while keeping within the structure of what people usually consider a film. Remember when the series had some initial semblance of being grounded thrillers that built up to the crazy shit slowly? Someone said that Extinction felt the most like a "movie". Well, I'd give that distinction primarily to the first film, but Extinction tried, as well. I think the signs were there. Sure, we looked past the parts in Apocalypse with Alice running down the side of a skyscraper and karate-chopping the shark (or Nemesis, whatever). In Extinction Alice had wild telekinetic powers, but it was okay because its use was limited and subsequently thrown out in the next film. You could even make a similar arguement of Afterlife if you ignored the bat-shit crazy opening sequence, in which Alice walks away from a plane crash unscathed. But Retribution just lets it all hang out: numerous desperate call-backs to previous films, clone factories, zero-stakes car chases, no new enemies but bigger/twice the number of old baddies, gun-toting zombies (fuck you, RE5), car-driving zombies (fuck you, RE5), an increased amount of slow-mo wire-fu, and an incredibly drawn-out and hilariously unnecessary final battle in which the hero walks away from certain death with relatively minor injuries while the villain is taken out in the most ludicrous of fashions. There were
, for pete's sake. MY LORD.
Oh man, this movie is so bad. It is so good.
The acting is terrible, the main protags aside from Alice have practically no depth whatsoever while the ancillary cast of characters, some being familiar faces, come and go with barely a hint of an afterthought. Oh, Oded Fehr, they gave you nothing to work with. Remember when you were Gigolo guy? Michelle Rodriguez was given a tiny bit more to do besides snarl and shoot things, fortunately. Leon Kennedy, why do you look like Woody Harrelson? Ada Wong, did you learn your lines phonetically? Barry Burton, I can't remember if you had any lines. You went out like a champ, though. Jill Valentine, the 'shoot-glowing-weakness-thing' on your chest could use more protection. At least zip up your jumpsuit some, it's cold out.
The locales are very reminiscent of a video game progression of disparately themed levels. Really, the segmented domes of this new Umbrella base is very much like an old school video game's themed areas, with a central hub of sorts to connect each place; the geography-based, non-elemental equivalent of 'lava level, water level, ice level, boring level' and so on.
The plot? What plot? Escape from evil science base again, Alice, because we need you for something something...hold on this time there's a car chase sequence
inside the Umbrella base! Who needs new villains? We have a giant licker and TWO axe-wielding majinis!
I was almost fooled during the first 15 minutes, where I thought Anderson had something genuinely interesting in store for us. The low-key open leading into a slow-mo reverse action sequence was pretty cool. I went in knowing about the
, but I wasn't sure what to expect from the scenes featuring Alice in suburban bliss. Well, my curiosity was short-lived, once they kicked things into HIGH-GEAR, I turned off the part of my brain that modulated logic and expectations.
By the time we see
casually sitting in the
, I had already given up wondering if I was dreaming.
You know, a while ago I made some rather snide remarks regarding the RE games becoming the interactive equivalents of the RE film series, but Retribution has taken it up a notch. The games have become what the movies were -- at least they have a semi-logical progression of story beats. The movies have ascended into some weird heaven where straight-to-dvd films are reincarnated as stuff like this.
Will there be another one? I hope there's another one.
and I didn't know what to expect for the ending, so its something to look forward to!
