Distributor: Screen
Gems (Division of Sony Pictures)
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#1 with $21,052,227
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $33,468,000
Gross Revenue: $136,868,000
Production Budget:
$65 million
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Having seen each of the previous
four entries of the Resident Evil
series countless times, I was understandably excited when it was announced that
Retribution would be coming around as
yet another sequel detailing the plight of Alice and her allies against the
villainous Umbrella Corporation. As the
main character of the series, Milla Jovovich has cemented her reputation as
Hollywood’s leading female warrior, with her engaging performance and impressive
combat prowess being the only consistent elements across the entire franchise;
so, needless to say, seizing on the chance to see her suit-up in combat armor
yet again was a no-brainer. From a
marketing standpoint, because of the longstanding nature of this zombie
juggernaut, promotional efforts weren’t going to be targeting new audiences,
but instead convincing fans that this fifth entry would be worth their time and
attention. Aside from the undoubtedly
effective use of the 3D format promised by the trailers, the biggest selling
point for Retribution was the fact
that numerous characters who had met their demise in past films would be
returning, so even fans whose enthusiasm has waned over the years had to be
interested concerning the way in which familiar faces like Michelle Rodriguez
and Oded Fehr were resurrected.
Regardless of lackluster critical reaction, the Resident Evil films have never failed to generate impressive box
office numbers, especially overseas, and to tell you the truth, until I was
bitterly disappointed by what I saw at the theater, I was always going to have
a ticket in-hand.
Beginning immediately after the
events of Afterlife, the opening of Resident Evil: Retribution finds Alice
(Milla Jovovich) captured and interrogated by the villainous Umbrella
Corporation and its chief security officer Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a
former ally who has been brainwashed since her appearance in 2004’s Apocalypse. After a power failure, Alice escapes and
encounters operative Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) and former villain Albert Wesker
(Shawn Roberts), both of whom have stopped working for Umbrella since the
artificial intelligence system known as the “Red Queen” took over and unleashed
plans to fully extinguish humanity.
Alice forms an uneasy alliance with Wong and Wesker, resolving to
rendezvous with a support team that will aide in her escape and includes Leon S.
Kennedy (Johann Urb), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand), and former acquaintance
Luther West (Boris Kodjoe). Unfortunately,
the Red Queen activates the base’s formidable defenses, which include
experimental zombie experiments and cutting-edge artificial reality; Alice is
also horrified to learn that her former friends Rain Ocampo (Michelle
Rodriguez) and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) have been cloned and are now
programmed to hunt and terminate the escaped prisoners alongside Valentine and
her forces. Faced with seemingly insurmountable
odds, Alice must draw on all of her skills to defeat legions of the undead, to
escape alongside fellow freedom fighters, and to help mount one last stand for all
mankind.
As always, Milla Jovovich delivers
as the feisty heroine, and there is more than enough action and eye-popping 3D
to placate action junkies, but the biggest accolade of this sequel stems from
the fact that this film represents a pure live-action videogame. While the appearance of well-known characters
of the Resident Evil videogame
franchise will be an undoubted thrill to longtime purists, the truth is that Retribution offers something for even
the most casual of gaming fans; a smart move considering that members of this
demographic likely comprise the largest portion of the intended audience. Thanks to the narrative, the on-screen
characters essentially follow a path identical to the type one would find in a
videogame; this may seem like a disappointing cop-out, but the Resident Evil films have never truly
tried to present anything else…if anything, cutting out excessive dialogue or a
complicated plot simply reduces the volume of criticisms that could be validly
levied. And, I’ve heard critics complain
that the film’s use of 3D is distracting, but having things jump out at you
from the screen is what moviegoers expect; add-in the edgy soundtrack, and viewers
are gifted with a simple and enjoyable popcorn flick, which is nothing more
than what was initially promised. Yes, I
likely enjoyed Resident Evil: Retribution
largely because of my devotion to the franchise, but in acknowledging that, I
also have to acknowledge that this newest entry in the survival horror genre
isn’t for everyone.
Without fail, every single time I
go to the theater to see a Resident Evil
film, there is someone there who simply doesn’t belong, and they leave their
seats with a look of utter disappointment on their faces, dejected that the
film was neither deep nor possessed some underlying message, but with those
kind of expectations, how could you not be let down? The Resident
Evil films have never, ever promised award-winning filmmaking, but that
doesn’t mean that they are doomed to fail in terms of providing entertainment…there
is something inherently satisfying in destroying zombies. Yet, even with that qualification, Retribution still represents one of the
weaker entries in the entire series and is heavily reliant on audience
familiarity with the core material. As I
mentioned in the “Short and Sweet” review, the narrative does make a sincere
attempt to get viewers up to speed, but when the first minutes of a film are
fully dedicated to intense exposition of four films, that’s a pretty big red
flag for anyone who isn’t using giant yellow text floating through space. To put it simply, fans of the franchise will
get their money’s worth with Retribution,
but for anyone else, the fifth film of the series represents arriving to the
game far too late, and you would be better off letting sleeping dogs lie.
Though opening weekends in
September are usually weak, especially when weighed against the Summer Movie Season,
that fact still doesn’t take the sting out of a $21 million dollar opening for
the sequel of an established series, even if it was enough to win a first place
accolade. Luckily, Resident Evil: Retribution has a surprisingly strong international
presence, which to-date has accounted for 75.5% of the overall lifetime gross
and helped double the return on the sizable $65 million production budget. And, with the next few weeks so stacked with
audience-splitting entries like End of
Watch, Looper, and Taken 2, I am glad that Screen Gems has
been able to garner a strong box office performance. In terms of the future of the Resident Evil films, Paul W.S. Anderson
has stated that a sixth entry would be contingent on the success of the fifth,
so chances are good that Alice and her allies will return for a final battle. If you’ve been following the T-virus outbreak
for years, go see Retribution, but
for everyone else, I wouldn’t suggest hitting the theater until the previous
entries have passed your Netflix queue.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
