Trailer Tuesdays: Resident Evil Retribution

I never really got into the games for Resident Evil, with the exception of the forth one, which I played in Japanese, though they kept the English voice actors; however, despite my rampant not knowledge, I’m pretty sure I know a tad more about them Paul W. S. Anderson. When the first movie came out, it didn’t seem too bad, and I hadn’t yet realized that Alice wasn’t a character in the games. I actually confused her with Lisa and waited patiently for her to turn into a zombie, but that didn’t happen, because Lisa appeared for about two seconds and then died.

It was then that I realized Alice was a completely original character who had nothing to do with anything.

And while the first movie or two may have been passable, at this point in the franchise, Resident Evil is beyond redemption without a complete reboot. The movies now feel as though Anderson cannot separate Alice from his wife in his own head and just wants to make her look amazing for an hour and a half. The last movie barely had a story; it just showed off how kickass Alice was despite her not-powers, which still let her do superhuman feats. And more than half that movie felt as though it existed for the sake of 3D, and 3D doesn’t make a story. Nor does it give Alice any kind of personality that she so desperately needs.

The movies and games have nothing in common anymore, outside a few named characters, and every once in a while little tidbits from the games are thrown in, which just confuse people. Because they don’t make sense to anyone who hasn’t played the games, and people who have played them sit there thinking, “That doesn’t belong.”

So let’s talk about the trailer, which tries to trick us the exact same way the trailer for Resident Evil Extinction did, only now instead of a casino, we have some iPhone commercial telling us to imagine what life would be like without technology. That seems like the wrong thing to imagine in this situation, given that technology didn’t die with the rest of humanity in the movies. Hell, looking at the Alice clones and self-destruction of the Umbrella bases and everything else they have, I’d say technology is doing pretty good.

Here’s something that might make an emotional impact: how about imagining what life will be like when everyone you know is dead and trying to consume you for dinner. I know I personally won’t be thinking “Damn, I miss the internet” if my parents ever try eating my face off.

And this may be nitpicking, but I’m pretty sure given the time frame of the first two movies, that the iPhones it’s telling us to imagine not having wouldn’t have ever been invented. The beginning is just a waste of space, but hey, I hope someone got paid well for that product placement.

Also, I know she does this every movie, but does she absolutely have to say, “My name is Alice”? We’re five movies in; I’m sure we all know who she is by now.

And then there’s Michelle Rodriguez, who dies in every movie she’s in. And in case you’re wondering, yes, she was in the first movie, and she died there too. I guess she’s back, because why not? Continuity?

I can only hope that they wrap up the series after this one. And then maybe we’ll get a reboot that has the decency to at least make some sense.