Review of Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) by Harry W — 08 Feb 2016

Though the Resident Evil series has been essentially one disappointment after another, with Resident Evil: Retribution being considered by friends of mine to have the worst story but the best action, I figured why not.

With the producers apparently believing that the narrative of Resident Evil: Retribution actually matters at all, the film opens by taking viewers through the film's context by using flashbacks to the preceding films while Milla Jovovich delivers a generic monologue without a hint of emotion. This follows an action scene depicted entirely in reverse and is then followed by the same action scene in real time before getting to the point that every Resident Evil film opens up with: Alice Abernathy awakens confused as to the events leading up to teh contemporary moment. After this scene, she wakes up once again in a state of near-nakedness, so that establishes that the narrative has actually begun to proceed. But in no time it becomes clear that there is actually no story in the film. We already knew that Paul W.S. Anderson never had any stories worth telling within the Resident Evil universe based on the quality of every single film in the series, and after giving viewers context in the intro he doesn't even pretend like there is any story actually worth following in Resident Evil: Retribution. The viewer has to do the same if they are to enjoy the film because the lack of a story is burdened by the pretentious cliches in the dialogue.

If anyone is to enjoy Resident Evil: Retribution, it lies simply on the status of the film as a visual experience. For me, it was far from it. So removed from the idea of practicality, Paul W.S. Anderson pushes this entry into the series to be closer in tune with the Resident Evil films which are actually complete animations. I would be slightly more accepting of this abundance of artificiality if not for the fact that the visual effects are far from sufficient quality to create any credibility within the film whatsoever. There are only two types of visual effects shots in Resident Evil: Retribution: ones in which the green screen behind the characters are obvious and ones with the unnecessary addition of 3D which is even harder to miss. In the case of the latter, though better use of 3D is made than in most contemporary films, it still adds nothing to the experience. But in the case of the former, there are just way too many green screen shots to ignore. Milla Jovovich spends so much time on a green screen that the film almost feels like a promo for the Playstation 2 interactive camera EyeToy where she has to perform a bunch of dance moves in front of an obvious screen. Of course, it shouldn't be this obvious because the film has to maintain the illusion of narrative. Yet since it has no narrative and no convincing illusion of spectacle either, Resident Evil: Retribution just fails on every level.

Like I said, I was told that Resident Evil: Retribution offered the finest action scenes of the series. I can see that the film had the potential to offer this, but it was far from realized. There is clearly potential within the fight choreography, but it gets buried beneath an excess of changing angles over the course of too many quick edits. Though the editing is not of the same poor calibre that turns most Hollywood action films into despicable features aimed to cater to a PG-13 audience, it still makes its way into territory far from the idea of entertainment. By contrast to this speedy element, the action is extended by a a heavy quantity of slow motion which goes beyond surplus and pushes on developmentally disabled. Apparently having taken to Roger Mitchell's book on how to direct a film with Golden Raspberry Award winning results, Paul W.S. Anderson burdens Resident Evil: Retribution with enough slow motion to compete with the atrocious Battlefield Earth (2000). Problem is, Paul W.S. Anderson's film fails to reach the territory of being so bad that it's good.

And of course, the cast offers nothing to bolster the feature.

Milla Jovovich's performance in Resident Evil: Retribution is no better or worse than you could have expected. She delivers exactly what she has brought to the same role every time before, meaning that she offers a modicum of sex appeal, some impressive fight skills and a distinctive lack of emotion. The gimmicks get more tiresome every time, and in a film where the action is smothered beneath such poor direction there is little admiration for her shortage of skills this time especially. Milla Jovovich is a poor excuse for a lead, but to quote Jason Bateman "I don't know what I expected".

But this time, someone manages to actually bring less charisma to a Resident Evil film than Milla Jovovich. The godforsaken excuse for an actress goes by the name of Li Bingbing. Milla Jovovich may be poor, but you can tell at some moments that she is at least trying. From the beginning, Li Bingbing is so bereft of any charisma whatsoever that every word she says is stiff.. Most of the cast is forgettable, but the amount of screen time she gets in comparison to the amount of charisma she carries is way off the scales. Li Bingbing is, for lack of any more appropriate word, depressin.

You'd think that the return of Michelle Rodriguez would achieve entertaining results particularly considering that her action heroine status has just built in the years since she first appeared in Resident Evil (2002), but with the action scenes being no better than the screenplay she contributes success on neither levels in Resident Evil: Retribution. Michelle Rodriguez is the one cast member in Resident Evil: Retribution who actively deserves better than she gets, so I can only hope that her paycheck was big enough for the crime of taking her away from some other film which is likely to be much better.

Resident Evil: Retribution offers no story whatsoever and focuses on the CGI-overkill action scenes, packing its 96 minute running time with a reminder that Paul W.S. Anderson doesn't know how to be the slightest bit practical with stunts or sensible with the slow motion.