Resident Evil: Retribution

While last time Anderson was intoxicated by a new technological toy called "the third dimension," here he gets rid of it and tortures us with a tiresome, unexciting, and absolutely sterile sequence of shootings without ideas, tension, or adrenaline. Instead, he leaves Alice to perform her parental duties and the other characters to awkwardly explain everything around them, come back from the dead, or be jerks on a whim (Leon S. Kennedy!). Sorry Paul, I've always defended you, both to haters on the internet and in person over a beer, but this is shit that I suffered through outrageously and for the first time I'm not looking forward to the next film. (06/12/2012)

For me, this is definitely the weakest installment in the franchise. I praised Paul Anderson for not being afraid to create his own story instead of desperately trying to copy the game, and now this... There is no story, the film offers a disconnected set of slow-motion action scenes interspersed with the crunching of bones and pointless references to Resident Evil 4. It recycles characters who have died at least once in the previous installments, so the most appropriate reaction is probably WTF?? (08/11/2016)

There was something to watch in places (no, I don't mean Milla Jovovich in an incredibly asexual costume) and I don't feel that I suffered particularly, but I do also imagine entertainment a little differently. Sure, the best scenes take place in Moscow (the red army of zombies is great, especially the tank driver who has a chainsaw for God knows why) and the opening was good, but despite what Paul W. S. Anderson promised with the ending of the previous film, there were no big epic battles. The ending of Retribution, however, is in a very similar vein, and I'm rather curious about what the sixth installment will bring... but that doesn't mean I crave it. (02/03/2014)

I wouldn't dare to call Paul Anderson the king of garbage despite all his efforts, even though he's quite close to that title. The current record says that he has six films rated Boo!, one two-star, and one three-star rating from me, although I'm not sure if I would give Pandorum the same review today. Anyway, either something was wrong with me back then or with Anderson because when he gets going, it's worth it. From the perspective of what I expect from cinema, any part of the Resident Evil series would deserve a categorical Boo! label, but what is sympathetic about Anderson is that he doesn't rest on his laurels and manages to push each installment into even bigger messes, stripping it of even more basic elements of logic and consistency. With Paul Anderson, it doesn't make sense to talk about rock bottom because he always manages to creatively push his limits even lower. In this context, it's rather interesting that many people still manage to find something of their own in his work. Anyway, any user who can rate this piece higher than two stars raises a bit of caution in me. Overall impression: 5%. (08/11/2017)

Nothing really matters anymore. They only need a generator of random dialogues, characters, locations and monsters and this series could be endless. It’s impossible to rate it according to classic standards, because RE hasn’t made any sense for a long time. Anderson just sticks to his trashy video game aesthetic, which may not be valuable or desirable at all, but at least sets him apart from the rest of the competition in the genre. Unlike the fourth part, the fifth didn’t piss me off (and I’m even ashamed to say that I had quite some fun), and this time I’ll be more conciliatory (5/10 – 2*). I was expecting rubbish. (30/11/2012)