Better than Afterlife.

Resident Evil's cliffhanger endings usually make me roll my eyes, but this one's had me giggling in joy. Bring on the sequel.

The fifth film in this action franchise might not prove overly memorable, but it is more than satisfying in and of itself. Compared to the other Resident Evil films: it does not top the first and third films, but it is superior to Apocalypse and Afterlife. Paul W. S. Anderson is a director often criticized, but he does have a sharp eye for composition and design. As with Afterlife, the 3-D presentation is spectacular in ways both subtle (depth and space) and playful (an axe flying at the audience and so on and so forth). The storyline is perhaps a nod to the first film, returning underground: this time, Alice and a small group of soldiers fight through various Umbrella Corporation test arenas modeled on real places (Manhattan, Moscow, a suburban neighborhood), each populated by henchmen, raging zombies, and other bump-in-the-night beasts.

An Aliens style subplot uniting Alice with a "daughter" plays well, and the return of Michelle Rodriguez in dual (good and evil) roles is a nice touch. The chase and fight sequences are exciting and choreographed with grace and style. The last shot--a cliffhanger, of course--is a macabre delight. If you have stayed with this absurd, modest zombie franchise for a decade, this fun enough entry will ensure you are still interested come film number six.

B

BJs grade:

F

The first of the franchise tat I did not like at all, hopefully the 6th will be better.

I will say the 3D here is significantly worse than Afterlife's. I wasn't surprised to find they changed from the Pace System to shooting on the Red.

I was impressed by the 3-D in both films.

The opening moments of Afterlife, though, feature one of the most memorable uses of the illusion I've experienced.

The girl with the umbrella in the rain? I haven't seen Afterlife since it opened but I still remember some incredible shots.

Retribution had some cool 'big' moments, but I thought overall image depth was lacking.

Best comedy of the year. Afterlife was a dour chore, this embraced the goofy and I laughed so much. Anderson clearly has played the games because the Wesker cheese level is perfect.

I Mean its still an awful movie but its awful in the right ways.

This felt the most like the game, and I liked the cloning aspects. My 2nd favorite after the third. Barry finally made it in, and he was awesome but brief! I think this one had the best action of the series. I also really enjoyed the music and opening.

B+

Loved the fight between Jill and Alice.

my only complain is why did they take away her powers if she was gonna act like she had them in this two movies, lol.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what her powers were. What I can gather is that she was more like Wolverine, hence her pretty bad injuries disappeared when she got them back. But I agree, she's pretty intense either way. I loved her fight scene in the Tokyo, the Jill battle was good too, especially with the music.

Same here, except I think they should stop making them. If they do bother with another please wrap this shit up already.

I thought this was absolutely terrible. By far the worst of the series. It was so tedious and boring, and surprisingly convoluted IMO.

4/10 (D+)

Yeah this was laughably horrible.

I didn't think it was that bad, but it's not very good either. I thought it was atleast an improvement over Afterlife. I enjoyed most of the action scenes this time around, but what a bullshit way to introduce and waste such iconic characters from the game like Leon and Barry. They had absolutely nothing to fucking do in this movie.

Resident Evil: Retribution

These movies are just an excuse to have a bloody good time at the movies, an excuse to kill lots of zombies and monsters, spew lots of blood, and kick as much ass as possible. They could also continue indefinitely due to holograms, clones and test facilities. Bring on more of them, I'm enjoying these more and more as they go on.

Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) is one sexy woman. I was fantasising about her all the way through, that's not bad for a woman of almost 40. She resembles the game very well too. She's got one of those perfect Asian faces that are depicted in these games (with perfectly still hair too), and her clothes certainly make her more attractive. Again, the best scene was with the nail-through-the-face villains, but it was all such a super slo-mo extravaganza that no other scene was a bore. Again I vent my frustration that The Expendables franchise can't just copy this franchise in how to shoot violence. They should forget the comedy and get back to the 80s basics; violent action. Paul W.S. Anderson gets a lot of schtick, and I can't think for why. It's obvious that he's not competing against the Spielberg's of this world, and he's probably near the top of his particular niche.

The next one is going to be a brilliant finale with battles and gruesome monsters aplenty. Can't wait.

Resident Evil: D
Apocalypse:
Extinction: C+
Afterlife: B
Retribution: B

I do not mind these films either. I never remember the plot, but they are fun to watch every other year. Cheesy, kinetic simple pleasures. This one has a great opening and a great ending.

Yes! haha, so very true. The plots are ludicrous, so I just give up trying to make sense of it and enjoy the action.

B

I am just a huge sucker for this franchise. I know that these are technically not "good" films, but I enjoyed the hell out of each installment so far and this was no different. It felt more like a video game adaptation than all before it. I loved that they brought back most older characters from the franchise, in particular the one played by Michelle Rodriguez.

I have no idea if I've seen this one or not. It's weird.

I'd have the same feeling if I didn't write reviews as soon as I see them. They're all so similar and I cannot differentiate between them.

It was the only one of them I didn't see in theatres.

I had the exact same thought.

I might have seen it in the cheap theaters? It's about..... action?