I did find time to go into the cinema last week. Granted my choice in film is questionable, but it was the last showing of its cinema run, so I thought I'd catch it before it goes. Plus I was in the mood for a brainless action flick in 3D. As this was a recent release in the cinema, I will refrain from using any spoilers if possible, and just give my general opinion, and not go into too much detail about what happens in the film.
First of all, I actually don't mind the "Resident Evil" series. Sure they have nothing in common with the style of the games, although I hear "Resident Evil 6" is more of a shooter than a survival horror game, so now the movies are in line with the games, But then again, I've only really played the first two, meant to have a go at the fourth one, and the fifth one annoyed the hell outta me after less than 30 minutes. So I'm usually not up to speed on some of the characters and zombie side effects.
Because of my recent reviews of other movies, I never got the chance to watch the others again. Sure a brief outline of the events of the previous films is used at the beginning of each sequel, but I tend to forget certain characters and parts of the (questionable) plot. With that, I'll just give a quick opinion of each film, to give an idea as to my thoughts on the series to date:
- Resident Evil - I thought it was okay, once you get over the fact that it has nothing in common with the game.
- Resident Evil: Apocalypse - It's okay, but it is a little bit stupid in parts.
- Resident Evil: Extinction - The "Mad Max" setting is a little strange, but at this point, you get what you pay for when you watch it.
- Resident Evil: Afterlife - It wasn't too bad, and since it was shot in 3D, it looked great. And of course it was nice to see Ali Larter again.....this time in 3D.....
 |
| Infact, I don't even remember if she survived at the end of "Resident Evil: Afterlife", since she's not in the new one. |
Before I get to the film itself, I just want to mention that was nice to see a movie that uses 3D technology instead of the post conversion from 2D, which not only looks like crap, but is damaging the reputation of 3D films, which is already under fire for reasons such as price, use of glasses, dark screen tones, and the gimmick label. It doesn't help when the major blockbusters (such as The Avengers and The Amazing Spider Man) go the post conversion route, and the ones that actually use the technology are either not that popular or are rubbish to begin with, which adds more confusion as to the merits of 3D technology.
I could go on more about it, but this article from Cracked should suffice. Otherwise, I'll just go off topic.
And the verdict is in.....
I admit the films in the RE series are not great, but to me they are at least watchable, and have some entertainment value. But after watching "Resident Evil: Retribution", not only was this the worst movie of the series by far (and that's saying something), it is also one of the worst movies I've seen this year. And of course, it only strengthens the belief that a 3D movie is not worth watching.
The film is roughly 90 minutes long, but the feeling I had at towards the end of it was.....that's it? It felt like a section of a movie that was originally 30 to 45 minutes long, but was extended with pointless characters (such as the little girl), stupid scenarios (which involves the little girl), blatantly ripping of better movies (the opening sequence is almost identical to the beginning of the "Dawn Of The Dead" remake), and boring, extended action sequences (which comes near the end of the movie).
I might as well get the good parts out of the way, since there's not many to begin with. The first proper fight scene with Alice against a group of zombies was fun to watch. There's not many films where there's strong female protagonists, so it's always refreshing to see women who kick ass instead of being dumb damsels in distress, or as part of a forced love subplot. And of course, it helps when they're easy on the eye.....hey, I'm a bloke. What do you expect?
Oh, and there's the obligatory scene where Milla Jovovich is in the nip, but you don't really see anything.. Then again, these films were produced and mainly directed by her husband.
 |
| If only the director of the Underworld series would do the same with his wife's films. At least it would distract me from Kate Beckinsale's lack of acting skills. |
I was confused throughout the movie for a variety of reasons. Because of my lack of knowledge of the game series after the second one, I posted a question up on Facebook, as to whether there were "armed" zombies in the RE games, or if it was just a rip-off of the "Nazi Zombies" trend in film and games. The poster for the film has the tagline "Evil Goes Global", but the whole movie takes place in an underground facility. And according to the third movie, the virus has already spread around the globe, so that tagline makes no sense.
I guess it's something to do with the Red Queen from the first movie taking over Umbrella or something. Even that wasn't explained clearly, so I just had to swallow the fact that Wesker is genuinely trying to help Alice, despite taking her powers in the last installment. While it was a little distracting to see another child actress playing the Red Queen, I have to remember that the first film came out ten years ago, so of course they had to change the look of her.
Speaking of casting, and please note I'm too lazy to check character/actor names, whoever played Ada Wong has to be one of the worst actresses I've seen in a long time. At least whoever played Jill Valentine had the excuse of acting like a drone, hence the wooden delivery. And it doesn't help that the script is so bad, not even the other characters that at least make an effort onscreen, can help make the dialogue sound convincing.
I found it weird that I only knew the names of some of the characters towards the end of the movie (Leon Kennedy and Barry Burton, who are actual RE characters), as I don't remember them being introduced as such throughout the film. Because I didn't watch the other films to refresh my memory, some of the recurring characters were lost on me. And I have to say, I still find Michelle Rodriguez annoying and bland as usual (although to be fair, she was okay in the Grindhouse flick "Planet Terror"). But it was nice to see Colin Salmon (okay, I checked online for that one) from the first movie, who was also in.....wait for it.....
 |
| This is now the third reference this month. Seriously, that was unintentional. |
But the worst part of the film comes at the end, but for a different reason. I already mentioned the feeling of "that's it?" towards the end of the film, but what annoyed me was, without giving it away, the hint of another sequel. Not only that it gave the impression that nothing was really accomplished in this film, but it set up a movie that not only would I be interested in watching, but of what I wish I was watching instead of this waste of celluloid.
That annoyed the hell outta me. Judging from what I just watched, I got the feeling that the next one could very well be the last. And despite the fact that this movie was terrible, even by the film franchise's already low standards, I know I'll watch the next one. But at this point, I think it's about time that the series took a bullet to the head, and come to an end.
And on a final note.....
Speaking of how the series should end, this is an amusing short about the first game in the "Resident Evil" series.
No comments:
Post a Comment