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Just in time for the holidays, Sony is ready to release Resident Evil: Retribution on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD. The official release date for us here in the US is December 21st. Yeah, the day everyone considers to be the “all-over.” It’s fitting, too, since the film deals with a global apocalypse of its own.
Having said that, we have an early review for you! I’ll be talking about the standard Blu-ray release here. No fancy 3D TV for me just yet! Is this Blu-ray release worth it? Keep reading to find out.
I’m more than aware of the overall reception this film was met with by fans of the series, and I know a lot of readers didn’t agree with my 7 out 10 review of the film, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed viewing the film again. At this point, after a decade of Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil films, I’ve come to accept that these films should not be directly compared with the games at all. Yes, they borrow elements and characters, but this film franchise is an entirely different beast. Yes, I’m more than ready for the inevitable REboot, but I still have fun watching these “adaptations.” In the end, they’re not replacing our beloved series, they’re only helping by getting more people interested in it. Back to the review!
The story in Retribution revolves around Alice (Milla Jovovich) once again, as she’s trapped in the heart of Umbrella’s massive underground facility, Umbrella Prime. But the way the movie actually starts is pretty awesome, which picks things up directly from the end of Afterlife. The plot plays out like a video game, with Alice having to go through different areas of the facility that simulate different locales around the world. They made for some epic and nice set-pieces I’ll admit, despite the high levels of action they all have. Alice isn’t alone though.
Retribution marks the big-screen, live-action debuts of a few beloved characters from the series: Ada Wong (Li Bingbing), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand) and Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb). When they were originally announced as being involved in the story, I was struck with equal parts excitement and concern. I was worried they wouldn’t be treated faithfully, but I was beyond ecstatic about finally seeing these characters I grew up with in an actual live-action movie. In the end, the actors did a good job with their roles, but it truly left a lot to be desired. There are a handful of nice character moments though, that will definitely appeal to fans of the series (the ones that give this film a chance of course).
Retribution also marks the return of several deceased characters from past films, like Rain, One and Carlos. I won’t delve into spoilers here, but it all makes sense once you’re faced with the revelation surrounding their return. Oh, and I absolutely loved seeing Sienna Guillory back as Jill Valentine! Even though it wasn’t exactly classic Jill, she played the Wesker-controlled version from Resident Evil 5, taking on the role of the main baddie here. I think she did a good job regardless. Retribution’s story is enjoyable and sets things up for what looks like an epic finale with the next film.
The film looks wonderful on Blu-ray, with a clear image and all the special effects looking just as good as they did in the theater (minus the 3D effect, of course). I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is demo-worthy to show off to friends (though some scenes come close), but the film really looks good and watching it again made me come to realize how there are some pretty beautiful shots here, which isn’t something I usually think of when watching action films. The film changes scenery a lot, and that means there’s rarely a dull moment here when it comes to visuals. The sound is also rock solid, and I must stress how surprisingly good the soundtrack is (iPod worthy!).
Aside from the feature film, you also have an UltraViolet Digital Copy of it to take with you on the go included with the Blu-ray release. I’m not really a fan of this particular system of digital distribution, it’s just way too problematic to get working and I always just end up giving these codes away. You don’t get a DVD copy of the film bundled with the Blu-ray sadly, which is something I just became used to with all these combo-packs out in the market.
As far as extras and special features go, this Blu-ray has a good amount of them. Again, if you’re not a fan of these films then you could care less, but I liked all the extras that were included, which provided more insight into the making of the film and the overall film series as well. As far as Blu-ray exclusive special features go, you have 12 minutes of deleted and extended scenes (comprised of 5 scenes total). One particular deleted scene really stood out to me, and I’m left wondering why it wasn’t included in the film in the first place. I won’t spoil it, but we saw some set-pics showing this scene. As far as the extended scenes go, I’m happy with them being condensed since the dialogue in them went on for a tad bit too long.
Then you have Project Alice: The Interactive Database which is also exclusive to the Blu-ray version. This is quite an awesome extra that lets you learn more about the characters and creatures from the film series. You don’t just get your usual blurbs of information, but you also get clips showcasing each character/ creature. I really enjoyed watching these and it served as a nice refresher, especially the Tyrant clip where he’s fighting Alice. For some reason, Extinction is the film I don’t really remember much from, so watching this clip was pretty nice. Hell, this interactive bonus actually made me get the urge to watch the old films again. Job well done!
Lastly, you have the Blu-ray exclusive featurettes, . There’s seven making-of features here (50 minutes total), with one of them, focusing on the film’s creatures, also included in the DVD release. You get insight into how various aspects of the film were approached, as well as a featurette focusing on Alice’s evolution through the series (I can’t believe it’s been more than 10 years…). As far as regular special features go (that are also included in the standard DVD release), you have the expected commentaries and the pretty humorous outtakes. In the end, all the extras are pretty good, but it’s nothing truly special. The highlight for me was the Project Alice interactive feature. That was pretty neat.
Resident Evil: Retribution continued to fuel the anger of fans of the series, but I personally thought it was a pretty good film for what it was. It was exciting and I loved seeing some of my favorite characters in the series on the big-screen for the first time, even though they weren’t 100% faithful to their original incarnations. This Blu-ray release transfers the film nicely and makes for a pretty entertaining action film that, like its predecessors, falls short of being great.
