Category: Good

Messages and Meaning

Resident Evil: Retribution focuses primarily on great action and leaves the plot aside. Visually, everything is fantastic, and there are plenty of opportunities for both battles with zombies and monsters and iconic duels between key characters. As for the story… it leaves a lot to be desired. Why are we dealing with clones? Why are we introducing characters from the games who lack their original personalities? And most of all… Why does Alice have a child?

The idea of Alice taking in a child from her clone is supposedly meant to reveal her sensitive side, but it’s simply… out of place. The scenes with the child are awkward, the dialogue doesn’t fit the overall energy of the series, and ultimately, the entire storyline has no lasting consequences.

In the previous four films, everything slowly builds toward the climax of Alice’s evolution, the dead world, and the new hope in Arcadia. The fifth film discards all of that to bombard us with strange simulations and fake characters. Yes, it’s entertaining, but the question “Why are we even here?” hangs over the whole thing.

Plot

The plot of Resident Evil: Retribution is strange, and if it were completely removed from the series, nothing would be missing from the main story. The movie feels more like a DLC expansion for a video game than a level from the main campaign. The whole story follows the principle of “Here are some zombies and cool arenas where you can fight them.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but it could have gone a few steps beyond mere spectacle.

Yes, the movie has its twists – like the housewife Alice, the return of the original characters as clones, and the revelation that these are fake cities that are actually underwater. But these are merely plot twists that lack emotional impact or fail to deliver it.

Characters

Alice – Alice decides to become a mother, which is an attempt at emotional growth, but unfortunately, it fails.

Jill Valentine – For someone who appears in three out of five movies, Jill definitely has nothing to do except look good and fight.

Rain – Even if it’s in a silly way, Michelle Rodriguez’s return is always a plus.

Ada Wong – Ada looks like the character from the game, but for some reason, her personality is completely different. Ada is known for two things—being seductive and keeping us guessing until the very end about whose side she’s on. Here, those two elements are missing from her character.

Important details

The scene where Alice fights the zombies with a chain is absolutely perfect from start to finish.

Ada and Alice’s first encounter nicely recreates a scene from the game, which is a nice touch.

The duel between Jill and Alice is exceptionally well done, and the mutated Rain provides a nice backdrop.

The mass production of Alice clones doesn’t make sense. She’s too valuable to be a test subject in a lab like that, as we’ve already seen in previous films.