Resident Evil: Retribution

“Thuddingly Awful.” -New York Daily News

“Another installment of a mind numbing series.” –The Hollywood Reporter

“Incoherent, and the acting is terrible.” –Newsday

“Some sequels suggest that no one involved with a franchise really cares anymore.” -Variety

Pretty harsh reviews; the previous quotes regard the latest (but not last) in the Resident Evil film franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution.  But, these reviews beg the question: ‘if Retribution was so awful, why did it gross $221 million dollars worldwide?  Obviously, this film was not made for critics.

“My name is Alice.”

Resident Evil: Retribution picks up exactly where its predecessors left off; with the heroine, Alice aboard an Umbrella Corporation sea tanker.  Just as the previous films in the series, Retribution gives its audience a quick recap as to where the story is, where it’s come from, and a hint of where we’re going.  Admittedly, as a fan and avid player of the video game series, I groan with each subsequent release and recapitulation of the film franchise.  As the films progress further from 2002’s Resident Evil, the plot and storyline spiral further away from the source material, only sporadically clutching to references and visuals from the games.

The original film took place in the “Hive”, an underground testing facility, hidden under a large mansion that protected the entrance to the Hive.  This facility was autonomously run by an artificial intelligence; who, in an attempt to contain a viral outbreak, terminated the human workforce and locked down the labratory.  These events could have run parallel to the first game of the series, which took place almost exclusively in the mansion (although we didn’t learn of the underground facility until the first film).  From here, slowly each film drifted further and further away from the source canon, which is likely what spurned my dislike of the franchise.

“Waiting for a written invitation?”

Eleven years later, I’ve decided this is an unfair position to take.  Admittedly the introduction to the Nemesis creature, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker and all the really interesting, deep characters in the Capcom series originally felt shoehorned into the films, when taken as an independent story (which it is), the Resident Evil film franchise is not such a travesty.  Certainly not as bad as other bastardizations of film like the Schumacher Batman films, or even the Super Mario Bros motion picture.  What Retribution becomes is a fun, silly action film, with tons of references to a beloved video game franchise.  It should never be taken as biblical folklore of the source material, but rather, a spinoff within the same fantasy world.  The cast of characters are vibrant, the action is intense (albeit cartoony), and the drama and suspense are real.  The film is not going to be nominated for an Oscar any time soon, and it was never meant to be.

Just as in the last few entries of the series, Retribution introduces more and more elements from the games, and even takes references from more recent entries in the series.  Jill Valentine with her blue one-piece straight out of Resident Evil 5, Ada Wong is present, in her signature red dress and even Leon Kennedy makes an appearance.  Having been written by Paul W.S. Anderson, who has written every entry of the film franchise helps as well.  “Incoherent” is an unfair judgment to make, while some of the elements of the film do require a suspension of disbelief, I find it difficult to have to defend this requirement when we’re discussing a film about a zombie outbreak that has all but conquered the entire planet and is being held at bay by a single person with near-super-powers.  These elements should be beyond belief.  It’s brain-candy shoot-em-up fun, and the story is completely coherent through all five films.

“I campaigned for gun control.”

While it may sound silly, if the viewer can ignore the separation from the video game series and the film, and look at the entire film franchise as inspired by the source material rather than a retelling of, Resident Evil: Retribution is a worthwhile action film.  Seeing as the films have grossed over $897 million worldwide since their inception in 2002, and not a single entry in the series has scored over 35% critical response on Rottentomatoes.com or 40 on aggregate Metacritic, I’d say the populace has spoken.  Resident Evil is a success, and there will be more in the future.

Resident Evil: Retribution was originally released to theaters on September 3^rd 2012, subsequently released to 3D DVD, and Blu-ray on December 21^st 2012, and is now available on Xfinity On Demand, Verizon Fios Video On Demand, and RedBox kiosks nationwide.