RESIDENT Evil: Retribution is the fifth instalment of the popular video game franchise of the same name, which is about surviving the zombie-apocalypse, where the entire human race is infected by the deadly T-virus.
As much as you may dislike the earlier two Resident Evil movies (written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson) due to its lack of cohesive plot and narration, Anderson manages to improve his next sequels with a better story line and more action.
Retribution continues with Alice (Milla Jovovich), who is human race’s last and only hope to put an end to the whole zombie apocalypse. As the Umbrella Corporation continues to experiment with the deadly T-virus which transforms humans into a legion of flesh-eating Undead, she must hunt those responsible for the outbreak. The chase takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington D.C. and Moscow. She gets help from newfound allies, Ada Wong (Li Bing Bing), Leon Kennedy (Johann Urb), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand) and Luther West (Boris Kodjoe).
Since Afterlife (the previous instalment), Anderson has succeeded in bringing pivotal characters found in the video games onto the large screen. And it helps to bring fans of the gaming series into the cinemas, who at first may have abandoned the film franchise due to its “factual reference”.
That said, when the writers decided to include Wong in the story, fans were excited. Casting Chinese actress Li as the trusty sidekick to Alice, seems like a wise choice, however, at times, her character feels a little underwritten. She has limited screen time, but whenever Li strides into the screen, she makes sure that her presence is felt.
On the surface, Retribution looks like any other monster-slaying movies such as Underworld or Legion. But on closer inspection, Retribution keeps action fans happy with realistic fight scenes that seem to go on endlessly. There’s also Executioner Majini — the axe-wielding man with drastic strength — joining the entire army of the Undead.
We all know that James Cameron’s Avatar raised the bar for 3-D filmmaking, but Retribution is shot in 3-D and it saves the audience from enduring the “added 3-D effect” during the post-production. The 3-D effect is a visual treat for all: Alice dodges a bullet, only to see it come close to the screen. Since Afterlife, the effects have taken a higher standard, where the action sequence that is designed to look cool on 3-D makes great viewing pleasure.
Although Retribution does not have as many zombie-slaying scenes as its previous instalments, it makes up for it with new and pivotal characters. Picking up after Afterlife, Anderson continues with his story and gives fans what they love most, by putting Alice in the same room as the Undead where she takes them out one by one.
NOW SHOWING
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring Milla Jovovich, Li Bing Bing, Boris Kodjoe, Johann Urb
Duration 96 minutes
Rating 18
- Harian Metro
- Berita Harian
- Business Times
- My Gadget Planet
- Travelific
- Harum
- Eats
- Properties
- News Image Bank (NIB)
- New Economic Model
- NST Reviews
- NiEXUS
- Friends of Travel Times
- Property News
- NSTLIVE Archive
- Spell-It-Right
