Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Resident Evil 5: Retribution

Friday, September 14, 2012

Resident Evil 5: Retribution - Review

Resident Evil 5: Retribution
(2012)

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi
95 min

Rated: PG-13

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson

Stars: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory and Michelle Rodriguez | See full cast and crew

Grade: D+

Alice fights alongside a resistance movement in the continuing battle against the Umbrella Corporation and the undead.

The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

-- (C) Sony

The best Horror films are the ones that could actually happen...that's what makes them scary. The best Si-Fi films are the ones that could actually happen...that's what makes them intriguing and maybe scary too. The best Action Films are the ones that are believable...that's what makes the hero heroic. Does this film score on any of these elements...NO, NO, and a resounding NO! Nothing about this film is believable.

Perhaps it's that I was never into video games...but oh my goodness! There have been 5 episodes in this franchise and another is already on the way. REALLY? What an absolute waste of time. This has got to be one of the stupidest films I've seen recently.

The opening sequence was about the only creative and the least bit interesting scene in this entirely odious little movie. It wasn't five minutes past the opening credits and I wanted to go home. The acting, if one could call it that, was abysmal, a particular standout in that category was Jil Valentine (Sienna Guillory)...aye aye aye! I've seen better in high school productions. And the supposedly femme fatale, Alice (Milla Jovovich), who can even focus on her physical charms when her over-acting 'tough guy' character is so overwhelming. Ada Wong's (Li Bingbing) costume...ugh, were the costume really designed by teenage-boy video-game geeks? And let us not forget the parallel character relationship from Aliens (1986) Ellen Ripley & Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan, aka Alice & Becky (Adryana Engineer).

If this genre is your 'brand' of entertainment, enjoy, otherwise you may be more satisfied sitting at home watching the dryer.

Spoiler Alert

The Plot

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Following where the previous film left off, Alice (Milla Jovovich) and the others on Umbrella Corporation's Arcadia freighter are being attacked by a fleet of airships led by Alice's former ally Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), who is being mind-controlled by Umbrella through a red scarab device attached to her chest. Alice shoots one down and it crashes on to the ship, knocking her in to the water, unconscious.

Taking place in what seems to be an alternate reality, Alice is living as a suburban housewife with her husband Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and deaf daughter Becky (Aryana Engineer), although this peace is disrupted when zombies attack and kill Carlos. Alice and Becky escape to the streets and are rescued by Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez), who lets them board her car. As the three escape, they are hit by a truck, knocking Rain unconscious while Alice and Becky escape; Alice runs and is attacked by a zombie Carlos.

Suddenly, the real Alice awakens in Umbrella, after being captured after the earlier fight in Arcadia. Jill appears and interrogates Alice, demanding who Alice is working for, while Alice begs Jill to remember her true identity. The power unexpectedly goes out, and when the power comes back on, Alice has escaped from her cell. Jill orders for a laser grid to chase Alice down the end of the hallway and through a door, which leads to the Toyko city landscape, identical to the previous film's opening scene, where she battles a horde of zombies that include Japan's patient zero (Mika Nakashima), before fleeing through a door that leads back to Umbrella headquarters. Finding many dead Umbrella operatives, Alice encounters Ada Wong (Li Bingbing), who she recognizes as the associate of her enemy, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who has survived the events of the previous film. Ada explains that she and Wesker no longer work for Umbrella. Wesker, who seems to have redeemed himself, reveals to Alice that he shut off the power, and plans to rescue her from the Umbrella facility, which is being controlled by the supercomputer Red Queen (Megan Charpentier and Ave Merson-O'Brian), in order to save what's left of mankind. Ada also reveals that the facility is underwater underneath ice, and that it serves as a testing ground for experiments, hence the formation of numerous replicas of cities, as well as numerous clones. Additionally, Wesker has organized a team of freelance operatives to infiltrate the facility and help Alice and Ada escape, including Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand), and Luther West (Boris Kodjoe), Alice's ally from the previous film.

Leon's team plants explosives near the entrance of the facility that would detonate in two hours and trap anybody still inside. The group plans to meet up with Alice and Ada in the simulated Raccoon City suburbia, identical to the one in Alice's flashback. Alice and Ada walk through the simulate of New York City, where they defeat two Axemen. The two manage to enter the Moscow simulation where they could meet up with Leon, however they escape to the Raccoon City suburbia after an encounter with more intelligence and heavy artillery. In the suburban arena, the two find Becky, as well as Jill and her mercenaries, consisting of clones of Alice's deceased allies: Rain, Carlos and James "One" Shade (Colin Salmon). A shoot-out occurs, resulting in Ada being captured and Alice and Becky escaping. Alice and Becky run into the "good" Rain (the one encountered in the Alice's dream), and head back to Moscow, where they meet up with Leon's team. The group escapes the intelligent zombies, and reach an elevator that leads them to submarines that could help them escape, although it shuts off. An enormous licker appears, with it capturing Becky and killing "good" Rain. The group pursue the Licker, where they encounter Jill's group; another battle ensues, in which Barry is killed in the process. Alice manages to rescue Becky, and rejoins Leon and Luther as the detonation occurs. The explosion results in the flooding of the facility and the deaths of One and Carlos.

The group reaches the surface, however they are met with a submarine, where Jill, "bad" Rain and a captured Ada emerge from. With orders from the Red Queen to kill Alice, Jill battles Alice while Rain, injecting herself with the Las Plagas parasite that gives her strength and apparent invincibility, fights Leon and Luther, killing the latter. Alice manages to remove and destroy the scarab device from Jill, returning her back to normal. Alice joins Leon in fighting Rain; she notices there are zombies from the facility swimming up to the ice. She shoots the ice where Rain is standing and she falls in the water, leaving her fate to the zombies. Alice, Ada, Becky, Leon and Jill, who is no longer being controlled by the Red Queen, travel to Wesker's base: the heavily barricaded and guarded White House. Wesker injects her with the T-virus in order to return her former superhuman powers, in order to enact his plan and that she is responsible for saving the remaining humans from extinction once and for all.

Cast