I Watched It, Now You Don’t Have To. . .Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

After an attack by the forces of Umbrella Alice finds herself trapped in one of their top secret installations. Once again she must fight the forces of this evil zombie manufacturing corporation, but she is not alone. It’s official, the Resident Evil franchise cannot be stopped. This artless series devoid of anything resembling originality returns once more and everything proceeds according to the usual formulaic template. Once again Milla Jovovich jumps around shooting zombies and monsters with a bunch of bland formulaic characters who also jump around shooting zombies and monsters. In fairness things begin in stylish fashion with an action scene aboard a freighter shown in reverse as the opening credits roll. It’s a shame there’s not a similar display of inventiveness throughout this fourth sequel, director and franchise producer Paul W.S. Anderson applies his usual insipid style; a mix of cheap looking CGI and feeble out-dated Matrix inspired action all smothered in a mind-numbingly annoying and derivative soundtrack. Maybe it’s a case of simply giving the fans what they want but this latest entry bears the worst hallmarks of its source material, feeling like nothing more than a videogame complete with two-dimensional characters moving from one level of challenges to the next preceded by lengthy exposition. But just how much enjoyment can be had from watching someone else play a videogame? Oh well, at least fans of the console series may welcome the addition of a few familiar characters shoehorned into the mix, and it will probably not be the last movie in the franchise. Yet again audiences are given a sequel baiting finale, worryingly one character at the climax of this mess proclaims it to be only “. . .the beginning of the end”. This franchise is bewilderingly successful and will no doubt continue regurgitating the same formula forever.