Release Date: September 14, 2012

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Stars*: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez, Oded Fehr, Aryana Engineer, Ave Merson-O’brian, Megan Charpentier

Our Rating: A

Nearly everyone in this country has, at some point in their lives or another, heard of the Resident Evil series, be it the Films, the novels, or the critically acclaimed video game series. The newest installation in the film series, which was released this past Friday, was Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and produced by Jeremy Bolt.

Following the final events of the last film where Alice (Milla Jovovich) and the Redfield siblings are besieged by an army of Umbrella attack heli-planes on board a cargo freighter named “Arcadia”, Alice is captured and sent to an underwater facility of Umbrella’s and is reunited (sort of) with her “friends” Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory),  Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez), and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr). Alice also finds out that the facility, known as the “Ocean Floor”, and Umbrella itself is under the control of the recently re-activated “Red Queen” (Played by Megan Charpentier and voiced by Ave Merson-O’brian), a murderous AI supercomputer she first encountered in “The Hive”. However, Alice is a prisoner, and her escape is aided by Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) and an extraction team consisting of Luther West (Boris Kodjoe), Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urban), and Barry Burton (Kevin Durand), which is directed most inexplicably by Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). While on her way out, Alice is confronted by the daughter of one of her clones, Becky (Aryana Engineer), who was told by the Alice clone to hide until she returned. Alongside Ada, Becky (to whom she is all of a sudden a badass), and the extraction team, Alice has to escape the “Ocean Floor” and return to what’s left of civilization or all of humanity will be doomed.

I feel that compared to the last few Resident Evil films, this one is slightly better and more emotional due to the presence of Aryana Engineer’s character, Becky. In my opinion, Becky affects Alice in Resident Evil: Retribution similarly to how in the film Aliens the character of Newt affects Ellen Ripley, bringing out the rarely seen maternal side of the strong, independent female character. there are also subtle notes of humor  here and there, like the situation when the Red Queen quotes herself from the Hive incident, saying, “You’re all going to die down here.” in that creepy “little British girl” voice. Unlike what I would have done, Alice merely shrugs off the threat, says to the holographic screen, “I’ve heard that before.” and promptly shoots it.

All in all, Resident Evil: Retribution is a rather decent movie filled with innovative twists, fluid acting, and lots of action. I personally rate it at an A, my only complaint being its extreme distance from the plot of the game series and the apparent killing off of Ali Larter’s character, Claire Redfield. That’s it for now, but join me next week as we wonder: Who’s the law?

*”STARS!!!”   -Project Nemesis A.K.A. Matt Addison, Resident Evil: Apocalypse (I just couldn’t help it, I’m sorry.)