Resident Evil: Retribution

Resident Evil has been a cult classic since its release in 1996. Back then, Resident Evil set a bar in 1st person gaming with the horror genre being its main concept. It was in 2002 when the game was materialized as a movie, generating a wide interest and a growing fanbase. After 4 movies and 10 years, Paul Anderson comes back to helm the latest installment of a very successful franchise.

Picking up from the previous movie: Afterlife, it is hard for me to believe that the series was able to make its way to a 5th installment. Alice (Milla Jovovich) is now robbed off of her superhuman abilities. As the T-virus is developed, so did Alice. This made the Umbrella Corporation even more afraid of her as Alice vowed to correct the mistakes that led to the apocalypse the world is in.

When the trailer was released earlier this year, the mere presence of Michelle Rodriguez intrigued me. How would they ressurrect a dead character? How would the presence of Rodriguez's character affect the whole story? In short, what the hell is Rodriguez doing in this film? I have nothing much to say with regards to its plot. It deliberately defined the true meaning of an installment. Since the 3rd film, Resident Evil has steered away from the game's concept and tried to be an action-packed film trying to fill eye-candies.

While the film has been giving us bits of information film by film, it seems that the series has grown tired and has exhausted every efforts in story-telling that they have to provide us with minute details. The action scenes are recycled from the previous movie and makes the viewers say, "Ay nakita ko na yan." (I have seen that before). While Paul Anderson is a gifted filmmaker, it seems that he has nothing left in his sleeve for this franchise. Bringing back the characters is already a bad sign that the series is now facing an impending doom, just like the apocalypse the story is facing and the hopelessness the characters are experiencing.

Mila Jovovich still rocked as Alice in the film making her hold her reign as the Queen of Kick-butt but Michelle Rodriguez still steals the show. The manly aura behind Rodriguez is still there. There were a lot of familiar faces in the film. The way they were brought back in the story was beyond unacceptable.

While Resident Evil: Retribution boasts of great CGI effects and an almost acceptable action scenes, plot wise, it moved just a little bit. Bottomline, the whole story from Resident Evil 3 - 5 could've have been made as one and would not waste our time with the last 3 installments.

GRADE: C-

trailer