Resident Evil : Retribution

Review by Anthony Morris

It's Resident Evil time once again, and for a series that hasn’t made sense since at least the second instalment this one – the fifth – doesn’t so much give up even trying as it does admit that the whole series is based around "shocking" reveals that don’t really reveal that much (or, for that matter, shock all that much).

So once again, everything Alice (Milla Jovovich, wife of director Paul W.S. Anderson) thought she knew turns out to be a lie of one kind or another as the evil Umbrella Corporation continues to try to tell everyone that turning humanity into ravenous flesh-eating zombies is a smart business move.

Having realised that logic is not this series’ strong point, we get a whole bunch of dead characters returning to life, including Rain (Michelle Rodriguez)  and James "One" Shade (Colin Salmon) from the first film, plus Sienna Guillory from previous instalments, only now with new hair.

Otherwise it's the usual run and gun stuff that seems like it should be more exciting than it actually is, and while this series never quite gets silly or random enough to be what-the-hell exciting – it's hard to shake the feeling that all involved think they’re making a better film than they are – it does manage to tick pretty much all the action movie boxes.

Or at least, all the boxes you'd expect the fifth movie in a remarkably reliable yet never all that memorable franchise to tick.

3 out of 5

Resident Evil 5: Retribution
Australian release: 13th September, 2012
Official Site: Resident Evil 5: Retribution
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Kevin Durand, Shawn Roberts, Colin Salmon, Johann Urb, Boris Kodjoe, Li Bing Bing
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson