'Resident Evil: Retribution' starring Milla Jovovich - trailer review
Resident Evil: Retribution Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: September 14, 2012
TRAILER SCORE: 3/10
Thoughts by TSR: Boy, this film series just won’t die, will it? I imagine these films have plenty of fans – if nearly $300 million worldwide for the last installment is any indication – so the fact another go with Milla Jovovich’s Alice is hitting theaters probably has some excitement swirling around it. What I’m not sure anyone will find exciting is this teaser for Resident Evil: Retribution, which spends 30 seconds trying to sell Sony products before segueing into a lot of questionable CGI action.
One of the first things I noticed – after the Sony advertisement wrapped up – was the teaser’s music. If it sounds familiar, that is because it’s a track from Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy score. That was one of my favorite film scores of 2010, and a recent rewatch on TV proved it almost single-handedly made that film watchable. No such luck here, as nearly every shot of this trailer made me shake my head. Perhaps if I was more invested in the universe - or played video games - some of the things teased here would excite me. Unfortunately that is not the case and I’m simply left numb by the onslaught of obvious CGI monsters, airplanes and other nonsense.
I actually rather liked the original film in the series when I first saw it. A couple of years ago, before Resident Evil: Afterlife’s release, I went back and watched the first three films again. The first didn’t exactly hold up, but I still found it enjoyable – and easily the best of the bunch. After four films, however, the CGI and slow-motion overload has become tiresome, and I’m ready for these films to go away.