Resident Evil: Retribution Review

Rating: **

Imagine watching a 90 minute long video game playing on the big screen? Well, it can possibly make an impression only amongst die hard gaming aficionado. However for those who aren't, the film is not only worthy enough to be totally dismissed, for some it could even turn out to be quite repulsive. After all, for how long can one really see guns blazing from all corners with zombies chopping off human heads and monsters gulping down babies into their bellies?

Thankfully, the plotline of 'Resident Evil: Retribution' is fairly simple and in the prelude set by central character (Milla Jovovich) brings in the ultimate Hollywood fantasy all over again. World is coming to an end, human race is going to be extinct soon, and there are only a few souls out there - with superpowers of course - who could help avoid the catastrophe. This time around it a biological warfare breaking to erupt and in a simulated environment, Milla has to go about taking her adversaries heads on.

She does so, right from the opening sequence where zombies attack her neighbourhood to the suburbia where she finds herself in the middle of an unknown world to the sudden realisation of reality where the real world turns out to be fake (there we go again!). So while she kicks butts, shoots with her gun, takes on dozens of baddies heads on, saves her daughter from being slaughtered and tries to figure if there would an end to this all, all you get to see is blood being splattered all around with VFX dominating practically every frame of the film.

All of this means that one just hears the rattling of guns from all corners and there are hardly any dialogues to punctuate the (lack of) drama. Of course those who are fans of 'Retribution' series would argue that the entire purpose of the movies(s) here is to bring a video game affair on the big screen. However as stated earlier, this also prevents the franchise from becoming a must-watch affair due to sheer lack of entertainment value that could have cut across all segments of audience, including those who love watching action on the big screen.

For a film like this, the least one would have wanted was to have some nail biting action and some pulsating thrilling moments. However, save for a couple of sequences each in the first and the second half of the film (and there too one never once feels that the protagonist is actually in danger of any kind), 'Resident Evil: Retribution' hardly turns out to be an engaging watch.

Rating: **