This is my first viewing of The Crow and it is a great, dark comic book adaptation that at times reminded me of Batman and moments that seemed to later inspire The Dark Knight, in particular with The Joker. It's a shame about Brandon Lee as he is amazing in the lead and this could've led to a great career. There are some poignant scenes and a genuine heart at its core. Just a home run from Alex Poyas. **4.25/5**

Well if you though it was wet on "Blade Runner" (1982) then welcome to a ruined city where the torrential rain never seems to stop. A series of flashbacks tells us that two graves hold the bodies of a young couple about to be married. That's before local kingpin "Top Dollar" (Michael Wincott), who had designs on their building, sent his henchmen to "coax" them out. A year after this tragedy a crow alights on the grave of "Eric" (Brandon Lee) and enlivens his corpse so that he may avenge the brutality visited on his fiancée and himself. What now ensues is a dark and menacing revenge thriller that, though fairly predictable, sees this former rock musician develop some astonishingly lethal ninja skills as he identifies and then rather entertainingly despatches a variety of drug dealing undesirables whilst retaining a sense of the decent by befriending local cop "Albrecht" (Ernie Hudson) and re-connecting with the young "Sarah" (Rochelle Davis) whose mother is another of the addicts in this dismal and hopeless city. It's the enigmatic "Myca" (Bai Ling) who spots the Achilles heel of our hero and so sets a scene with her menacing beau as "Eric" hones in on the final stage of a challenge that will hopefully allow him to return to his own grave in peace. Lee is really is in his element here and Alex Proyas and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski use the grim, sodden and ruined environment to depict as physical a corruption as the story does a societal one. What dialogue there is is largely left to an engaging contribution from Hudson, who has his own mini axe to grind with his police colleagues who saw him busted from detective for trying to investigate the activities of "Dollar" before. When you watch this film, you can't help but think on the number of other characterisations it has spawned, and it shows how revenge horror can work without resorting to endless special effects and jump-scenes. A cinema screening is best - a big dark room that makes you hear that relentless rain fall all around you.

**The following is a long form review that I originally wrote in 2011.**
In the vein of films like _The Punisher_ and _Mad Max_, _The Crow_ first hit my screen only four years ago, way back when my DVD collection consisted of only about 40 films, (now it is around 500). I had $10 to my name but I was intent on expanding the thing, a girl I'd met only that day, suggested I buy it from Sanity, when there used to be one in Civic. Since that day, when I was well and truly blown away by it, we've always intended to make our tradition of "Crow and Coffee" (wherein you watch _The Crow_ and drink several litres of Ice Coffee & Bailey's) a repeated thing.
I feel as if this one should have been known to me for far longer than it has. It's quite a point of shame in the Goth community to have none been raised on the shit. And I can tell why. The film blends some of the most incredible bands out (The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Violent Femmes, Pantera), is filled with great actors, it's based on one of the best comics I've ever had the good fortune of reading, and it's overshadowed by the death of the actor playing lead protagonist Eric Draven, Brandon Lee, son of martial arts master Bruce Lee.
_The Crow_ is filled with the dark and ominous. Towards the end, Draven fights using a martial arts move that was performed in honour of Brandon Lee's father, Bruce Lee, when he used an identical style in _Enter the Dragon_, the last film his father ever starred in, before his untimely death. In another scene, Draven can be seen filling a gun-barrel up with metal, and shooting them out into a pawn shop, Brandon Lee was killed on set during filming, when a metal casing became lodged in a gun that was then expelled by a blank, fatally wounding Lee in the torso. Behind the scenes, on the first day of shooting a carpenter suffered sever burns on set after his crane hit power lines. Later, a grip truck caught fire, an angry sculpting employee crashed his car through the set's plaster shop and another member of the crew accidentally impaled his own hand with a screwdriver. According to the biography of Bruce Lee, Brandon's death was predicted by his father after awakening from a coma, he foresaw Brandon's death long before he had even considered taking up acting, supposedly.
By no accounts is _The Crow_ unpredictable, it's rather the opposite, but it makes up for this in so many ways! It notches up some of the best quotes in film history, as well as being badass, and yet so utterly convincingly emotional. There is essentially no demographic I can think of that wouldn't enjoy (at least a little) this dark film's gothic atmosphere, gritty hopelessness, world-changing special effects, riveting action, and well-deserved cult status.
91%
-_Gimly_

The Crow (1994)
I hadn't seen it for about ten years and as the full moon came beaming through my apartment window late last night, it just felt right to indulge in some Proyas Gothic excellence.
The question still taps away at all our doors, namely would the film be the cult classic it became without the Brandon Lee tragedy? That's a tricky one to answer because we all deep down have a morbid curiosity about us, especially with films and their stars. This is why I got a lot more from re-watching the movie after a very long period of time, namely that it may have drew many of us in years ago because of the tragedy and heart aching back story to writer James O'Barr's birthing of Eric Draven the character, but it can now enthral, thrill and shatter emotions of its own accord.
The Gothic art design and the soundtrack are emo personified before such a label was invented, Lee is lithe and skilful and serving notice to what a talent we were robbed of that fateful day in March 1993. The villains are a roll call of go to guys for such roles, Kelly, Wincott, Todd, while Ernie Hudson fronts up as good cop personified. And finally Proyas, struggling with the budget even before Brandon's death, that he manages to create this world of perpetual bleakness, but still offer hope and beauty - the latter via tracking shots, pull aways and intricate frame shots of a tormented Draven, shows him to be a purveyor of considerable skills.
All told, The Crow (1994) deserves to not be thought of as a cult classic, but just as a classic, period. 9.5/10

'M3GAN' works for one reason and one reason only: the robot. I could honestly do without the entirety of the scenes that are predominantly about the adults, but the Model 3 Generative Android is, surprisingly, highly entertaining to watch.
The look is good, the effects are very convincing and, unexpectedly, the dialogue really adds to the character; it is lively and amusing, which can't always be said in this genre. They could've perhaps made the robot more unsettling, though it is minorly creepy once or twice.
Allison Williams, despite my lack of overt interest in the older folk, is solid in a prominent role. She looks like Amanda Peet to me in this, I even had to check it wasn't Peet; even though I knew the years/ages totally didn't work. Violet McGraw is decent. Less said about Ronny Chieng, the better.
The only thing I knew about this before watching was the dance, which isn't featured as much as I was anticipating based on how much I saw it referenced when the film came out. On similar-ish note, I enjoyed the uses of "Titanium" and "Toy Soldiers" in this.
As a big fan of the other, I second any calls for a crossover with 'Chucky'... Don Mancini's one, obviously.

What a great movie... Loved it.

**It's an enjoyable film, it carries a pertinent anti-tech message, but it's not even close to being a horror film.**
First, let me make one thing clear: horror movies have an imperative duty to scare and disturb us. Tension, suspense, fear and some scares are something that should not be missing. It's the essence of horror cinema, right? So, can someone explain to me where came from the bad idea of making horror movies for teenagers who aren't old enough to ride a motorcycle? Don't get me wrong… the movie is good, and I liked it, but I can't consider it a horror movie. It is not able to frighten anyone! It has no scares (we are able to predict them from a mile!), it has no tension or suspense. As a horror movie, forget it. As the people say, it rains, but it doesn't get us wet, do you understand?
The script begins with a young girl who loses her parents in a tragic accident and goes to live with an aunt who works in a large corporation of highly technological toys. Things aren't easy and neither of them is prepared for the situation. It is in this context that we met M3GAN, a prototype of a toy that is, basically, an android child that is capable of learning, improving itself, teaching and, basically, replacing parents in the tiring task of… being parents. The problem is that, being a machine, it has no notion of good or bad, right or wrong, and that seems to have been a secondary detail in its programming. So it's no surprise that she quickly turns into a sly, cynical creature who kills without any remorse.
The film was directed by Gerard Johnstone, an illustrious unknown. Who is behind the project is the producer and screenwriter James Wan, who we know from “Saw” and “Conjuring 2”. Wan's brand is everywhere. It would have been better if he had directed it and the project had evolved into a somber film, a true horror piece. Allison Williams does the main character well, giving us yet another excellent job. The actress is living a happy moment in her professional life after having shone in “Get Out” and seems to be managing to take advantage of the opportunities. Amie Donald and Jenna Davis, in turn, give body and voice (respectively) to M3GAN, complementing the work with an animatronic doll created for this purpose.
The animatronic doll is nothing new. Cinema has used this technology for decades, and Spielberg's shark – one of the first and most infamous examples – is proof of that. However, the special effects and CGI are to be congratulated. The film utilizes a number of expensive visual and digital resources to excellent effect, wonderfully complementing what was done in the studio. The sound (particularly the sound effects related to the doll) also deserves praise, and the cinematography, even though it doesn't bring new or innovative features, makes the best use of it all. The film has good costumes and convincing sets, as well as a very good, modern and fun soundtrack. It's on the editing table that things go wrong: either because of the excessive length, or because it wants to target young age groups, the film was badly edited, and the cuts are rough. There are even scenes from the trailer that, because they are not in the final cut, make it difficult to understand the story: for example, the scene where Gemma orders M3EGAN to protect Cady, which appears in the trailer and was cut from the film, but which would help to understand why the doll starts to behave that way to protect its young owner.
The only real fear that this film conveys is the credible possibility that, in the medium term, there will be some toy similar to M3GAN. Advances in AI, computing, robot creation and design, or other technologies make it plausible. Will it be that one day we will have robots and androids that, due to their characteristics, will be considered alive and, as such, immortal and, therefore, superior to the humans who created them? I don't think anyone wants to see that. Therefore, the film carries with it a message of distrust in technology, visible not only in M3GAN, but also in Cady's technological dependence. I can do nothing but applaud: the generations born after the year 2000 saw their childhood dominated by cell phones, iPads or computers, to the point of despising conventional games and toys and alienating themselves from living together, normal and healthy, with other children. I'm not making it up, this is a fact that we can all see in a short trip to any school. And if there are parents who appreciate the creation of devices that keep their children busy, I am in the group of parents who see technology as something that should be dosed in a more measured way, allowing children a normal childhood before introducing them to the digital and tech world. I think there is a time for everything in life, and childhood shouldn't be spent looking at screens and LCDs.

'Cady" (Violet McGraw) finds herself living with her aunt "Gemma" (Alison Williams) after an altercation with a snow truck leaves her orphaned. They don't exactly hit it off. The older woman is a career-driven lady who works at a toy manufacturer, specialising in gadgets and gismos that use AI. Thing is, their market dominance is waning - much to the chagrin of boss "David" (Ronny Chiang). Competitors are catching up and the children are getting even more sophisticated/lazy/dependent! She has a plan though - with her colleagues "Cole" (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and "Tess" (Jen Van Epps), she is working on the ultimate "companion". A doll that pairs with it's owner and becomes almost sibling-like. Snag with this film is that the plot is really all rather predictable, the acting isn't up to much and I didn't find the eponymous - hideously over-dressed - creation remotely menacing. Indeed, actually, at times I found it particularly useful (the neighbour's wayward dog, for example). It's a competently strung together drama, but it's all just a little too sterile and by-the-numbers for me. It does fire a warning shot to parents who could become over-reliant on their children's own reliance on surrogate friendships and dependencies, but once that point is made - and reiterated - the rest of this is, frankly, all rather unremarkable.

**M3GAN knows what its target audience wants and delivers the exact fun horror comedy to thrill and delight.**
I was conflicted before seeing the movie. On the one hand, the trailer looked ridiculous. On the other, I knew that Blumhouse and James Wan partnered for this. After seeing the reviews, I finally accepted that I had to see this movie, and I’m glad I did. Was it ridiculous? Absolutely. M3GAN knew what it was. It knew it was cheesy but had fun with it while also cranking up the tension and suspense. So many cliche “stop standing there and do something” moments that surprisingly added to the stress and horror. I wouldn’t say the movie was ever scary, but it was an excellent thriller. It’s a fun Blumhouse film that was self-aware and goofy while creepy and tense. One of my favorite parts was the short scene with one of the worst detectives of all time that had me laughing out loud in the theater. M3GAN is not a movie for everyone, but people who like other Blumhouse films and dark comedies would find themselves at home with this movie.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/m3gan-review
"M3GAN doesn't reinvent the respective subgenre of killer robots or AI that turns against humans, but it kept me entertainingly invested throughout its entire runtime.
Akela Cooper's premise is pushed to its limits - and even beyond - being elevated by excellent performances, a clever satirical narrative, eyebrow-raising killings, and meaningful messages about parenting and technology's role in a child's upbringing. It doesn't take itself too seriously or tries to be more than what it truly is.
Far from being a masterpiece, but if only all January horror flicks were like this one..."
Rating: B

I was excited, but didn't have much expectations for a PG-13 horror movie. But this was a surprisingly good horror flick. Though the majority of the film's slasher moments are near the end, the story's introduction and setup were surprisingly engaging. Watching the creation of M3GAN and the development of her relationship with the characters in the story was a great way of anticipating the moment she would take matters into her own hands.
My only problem is that I wanted to see more. Overall, surprisingly solid for a PG-13 horror movie. 9/10.

M3GAN achieved its goal perfectly by delivering a hilarious dark comedy that was incredibly aware at how ridiculous the premise is. It had me laughing my ass off and had some pretty decent kills for a PG-13 film, although I think it could have been even better with a hard R rating.
But this film is not just a dark horror comedy, it dives deeper than its surface appeal. Deep down there is intimate social commentary on parents using technology as a crutch. Whenever M3GAN is in the room, Gemma finds it easier to neglect her niece and let's M3GAN take control of the parenting. This makes it much harder for her to get a genuine connection with her to fulfill motherly needs. I found this surprisingly compelling and really does have a genuine impact in today's society, obviously not with life size android dolls but with tablets and phones. Really enjoyed this aspect of the film.
Allison Williams delivered a pretty decent performance; it was nice to see her in another prominent horror role since Get Out. Violet McGraw once again was great as an inspiring child actress; her filmography is beginning to be stacked for her being such a young age. All other performances were quite lackluster, but that is expected in a film of this nature.
Overall, there is not really much more to say. This film is funny, weird, and wildly fun. It's never going to be a standout competitor for award season but there is something to say about the pure entertainment it was able to deliver.
Score: 66%
Verdict: Good
Theater Verdict: See It

Despite tentative hopes, the Netflix live action movie for Death Note was painful to watch. Watching with my husband and another friend who was a fan of the original anime, we switched it off after 10 minutes soon after Light's girly screaming. I did manage to play the rest on my own while multi-tasking since I felt I owed it that much. The shinigami Ryuk was the one cool thing, even if they changed his amused observer role the acting and effects for him were great. Everything else though? Instead of a top role model perfect student equally liked by fellow students and adults, Light became a whiney emo brat with so many issues. Mia, who filled in for Misa's role, instead of sweet ditzy but still somewhat smart (and definitely loyal to a fault in her love) just became a *itch. Now I always rooted for L, but these two are our protagonists of the story and unlike the original source, I could find nothing likable or admirable about them. The gore-fest was also distracting. Death Note is a very toned down thriller with most deaths happening naturally with heart attacks, implied suicides, hit by a car and so on but expect Final Destination shock-factor and gory deaths in this adaption.

_Death Note_ - _★★★★_
While different from the anime, and surely the manga, Death Note is an enjoyable adaption. If you watched the anime, you know that the series’s first episode titled “Rebirth” starts out in the Shinigami Realm. We unfortunately do not see this scene or ever visit the Shinigami Realm but I think that’s just fine for this adaption as when we meet Ryuk for the first time, it’s so cool and terrifying at the same time. The film didn’t feel rushed despite having a fast pace but I never felt lost. In addition, the killings were gruesome. Also let me just say Margaret Qualley is bae to unbelievable max. Her Mia Sutton (originally Misa Amane) is just UGH <3 Nat Wolff was actually fairly decent as Light Turner (originally Light Yagami). Keith Stanfield as L was different but not totally in a negative way. And as expected, WILLEM DAFOE AS RYUK IS PERFECT!

Lots of people complain about this movie not holding true to the original animated version. For those of us with eyes unclouded by bias, this is an excellent movie. I hope the fans have not ruined the chance for the sequels to be produced... I hate an unfinished series, and this one has real potential.

'Legally Blonde' is good. There is plenty of cheese and you can see where the story is heading from basically the get-go, though it is all brought to life by an impressive Reese Witherspoon performance. There are amusing moments, plus it has a pleasantly short run time. Overall, I did find it enjoyable.

Reese Witherspoon ("Elle") is the archetypal sorority success. Gorgeous, glamorous, clever and dating the most handsome man at her school "Warner" (Matthew Davis). Then, all of a sudden he decamps to law school and leaves his naturally blonde girlfriend behind. She's having none of that, follows him to Harvard determined to win him back from his new sweetheart "Vivian" (Selma Blair) and the battle is on. She goes from being queen of the castle to struggling girl with alarming speed, and as she comes to terms with her new status. she reappraises her sense of priorities - especially when she alights of simple old "Emmett" (Luke Wilson). Not remotely her type, or is he? Perhaps if I were American, I could get more from the "frat" culture that this is predicated on, but I'm not and so it just came across to me as a pushy girl used to getting her own way, having to deal with a few bumps in the road. There is comedy, but it is pretty puerile and one only hopes Harvard has since beefed up it's entrance exams. Witherspoon is good - she evokes well something I found detestable about the character she portrays; but I'm afraid I just found it all just a bit too predictable. By no means the worst from the spate of rom-coms that started off this new millennium, but that doesn't make it good either.

Surprisingly funny and good. I was expecting this to be a dumb movie honestly. They did a good job. Yeah she was a blonde and acted like blonde, but she was legally smart at being an attorney.

An entertaining movie that with the title alone alerts you that it is brazenly silly, though Reese Witherspoon's character Elle Woods has challenges that make you cheer for her. Awkward social situations are well handled by the character and credit to the writers and director for resolving these with good morals. All of the major cast roles are well done.

**A low-budget film, but where everyone tries to do the best they can.**
Generally, I don't like films with the living dead, although I've seen several in recent times. This was one of them. Out of nowhere, the characters are thrown into a total apocalypse where people become zombies that they don't know how to kill. The protagonist is a young nurse, who immediately loses her entire family in the first moment. That makes us instantly like her. From then on, we hope that she will save herself and find other survivors to form an alliance with, which inevitably happens when she finds a shopping mall.
Zack Snyder directs this film and delivers a very competent and well-made story, which manages to captivate the audience with a convincing and structured story. The film is, moreover, a remake of an original by George A. Romero, but it is really worth seeing this film for what it is, without comparisons. Technically, the film was well edited and has good sets, costumes and makeup, and a pleasantly stable pace that doesn't leave us thinking about things too much. Of course, there are obvious clichés and logical flaws in all of this, such as the fact that some things never stop working (running water, electricity, etc.), but I forgave these problems.
The cast doesn't have any particularly big names, perhaps it was a conscious and deliberate decision to make this film with lesser-known actors, with whom everyone could identify more easily. Sarah Polley is the protagonist and does a very decent job, as do Ving Rhames and Michael Kelly. It is noted, however, that the entire film was made with very low budgets and that there is some amateurism and improvisation in the work of the cast and technical team. Still, weighing things up, it's not a bad film and everyone did the best they could do.

Awesome awesome movie. Loved this movie since the first time I ever seen it. Lots of zombies, and a lot of killing. One of the best zombies movies ever made in my opinion.

Great watch, will watch again, and can definitely recommend.
Granted, if you're not a zombie fan, you're probably not even considering this one. Then you have the great argument about infection vectors (this is pretty classic, bite infection transfer), and slow vs fast (this movie is fast) zombies. I'm basically just pointing out why we can't have nice things, people argue about it.
This has a great cast: Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley and Jake Weber in particular. The production value was definitely present, and not just in renting a mall to trash, or even just the zombie practical effects.
The large scale scenes look amazing, and the details on the various infections are fascinating to watch. And sure, there is lots of quality gunfire (foley is good) and shooting zombies for people you are just in it for the action. While it's actually got some good (if dark at times) humor to it, it's not "Warm Bodies".
Of course the presence of zombies / apocalyptic situation / lack of central authority gives us great philosophical opportunity to discuss what life means and see how people behave, but this leans more towards survival strategy aspects.
If anything, I think that is where the "flaw" is in this movie: (most of) the characters are relatively competent so it detours some from typical movie formula relying on the characters to make mistakes to progress the story, but more of there is just a hopeless unending storm of bad things happening to them, it's honestly a little refreshing.
This is probably one of my favorite zombie movies, and I don't even like running zombies.

Come on, man. You must've heard the priest say something about life and death.
George Romero fans feared the worst, another one of his sacred original zombie trilogy films was being remade, this even though the remake of Night of the Living Dead didn't disgrace itself. As it happened, the fears were unfounded, for Zack Snyder and his team crafted one of the best horror remakes going.
The premise follows Romero's wonderful version, a mysterious epidemic is causing the populace to turn into undead zombies, the bite of which transfers the illness to another. A small group of survivors make it to the Crossroads Mall and hole up there whilst trying to keep at bay the zombie hordes, but inner fighting threatens the group whilst they know they can't stay there for ever.
Right from the off the film grabs you around the throat, it's a blistering and terrifying opening which brings heartbreak and terror in equal measure. It also announces to us that these zombies are different to Romero's, these suckers can run, and run fast. After some chaos and blood, the introductions to our survivors is set up and the pic settles into a superb group dynamic situation, where machismo and brains meet dumb and dumber, all while little devilish moments trickle away in the background.
It's the focus on the survivors that really lifts it to greater heights, how they variously react to their plight, there's good thought gone into the screenplay (James Gunn). The natural progression of this type of film calls for horror moments, and Snyder deftly slots them in when the pic needs them, which again brings about scenes of terror and genuine heartbreaking moments. Some neat cameos will be cheered by fans of Romero's work, while the cast are superb here, with Sarah Polley the standout fulfilling the believable promise of the character as written.
A remake that is its own beast yet still pays homage to what inspired it, and good at both! Now that's a rare thing in horror! 8/10

Utterly average film that was rightly overlooked by the critics. There is nothing much apart from pretty colours. Rihanna is not an actress, and when you can't see her pretty face you seriously notice that. I wouldn't bother with this one, there are leagues better out there.

> A little girl and her unexpected adventure with an unlikely friend.
It was a good movie, but just like 'Turbo', it was turned down by the critics and so those who follow them. Besides Disney and Pixar, DreamWorks Animation ain't that bad at all. Technical side of this film comes under same league with the other two top production house, but the story and the character are not strong enough. Comedies were awesome, and so the dialogues, the innovation in narration falls short with the same old cliche in the alien theme. The soundtracks were good though, especially that one used for the promotion, 'feel the light'.
For a change, the lead girl character was different and voice rendered by Rihanna. I said it many times that my first ever 3D animation was 'Ants', despite 'Toy Story' was the first feature length. And this film has been the best work of the director to till date since his first flick 'Antz'. As usual like any animated movie, it was targeted for children, but I enjoyed watching it. There won't be a sequel at least for now, but I would love to have one. For a change you can try this to get a break from the fairytales and princess stories.
6.5/10

_The Purge_ has come a long way since its inception. Originally used as nothing more than an excuse to explain away "Why don't they just call the cops?" in your average home-invasion movie, the original _Purge_ movie had implied classism for the meat of it, and then an actual call to class division right at the end. Since then, the classism, and racism in American society has become a focal B-story to the _Purge_ movies, and now we're in 2018 for the prequel - _The First Purge_ - and those issues are now the whole point of the movie. Some might say that it's because the movies have lost any sense of subtlety, personally I think it's more that the creatives are sick of people missing the point.
_The First Purge_ can't have been an easy thing to give the go-ahead in the current political climate over in the US, but it's important, and moreover, not a bad little film, socio-economic politics aside.
_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

Yes, ok, it's a terrible film, but in the best way. It's worth watching just to see Jeff Bridges having so much fun sending up his character and himself.

As far as I am concerned this is another movie that demonstrates that the rating of the so-called “professional” critics used by Rotten Tomatoes are next to useless, at least as far as I am concerned and the official rating system at RT in general is deeply flawed. Yes I know that I have been harping about this before but I think it deserves to be repeated. Sure, this movie is not the greatest I have ever seen but come on! If you go to the movie’s page at RT you see a big rotten 13% flashing at you. That makes the unaware reader think the movie is a real turkey and that to me is just recycled bull food.
At sites like IMDb and TMDb the movies gets around 5.5 out of 10 which, although not great, is much more reasonable. Also the viewer rating says 42% which looks bad but if you look at the details you see that the average rating is 3 out of 5 stars which to me is more an “okay” rating. The RT ratings is seems to be made to make all movies except the blockbusters look bad.
Anyway, with that little rant over with, let us get to the movie itself. Personally I found it a quite entertaining movie that could have been better. There are quite a few funny scenes and the special effects are not bad.
Jeff Bridges is quite funny as the veteran sheriff although his character is still one of the things that could have been done better. He is supposed to be the knowledgeable veteran but in many scenes it seems like the other way around. His stubborn stupidity is sometimes rather annoying.
The plot is fairly simple and straightforward. Nothing fantastic and a bit contrived perhaps but good enough to string the special effects scenes together leading up to the grand finale. The cumin nonsense and the scene where Roy is stuffing his head with spicy food to get a dead to reveal himself is a bit of a downer though.
A lot of people have been claiming that it is a M.I.B. rip-off. I think that is rubbish. Yes, there are similarities but then every movie with a veteran, a rookie and a sci-fi or a fantasy theme could be said to be a rip-off in that case. There are so many movies made that one will always find similarities. Just live with it.
As I write before, on the whole I found the movie rather entertaining and me and the kids sure enjoyed our movie evening.

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) is the point where the franchise fully embraces its identity as a straight-up action spectacle. Any remaining traces of horror are wiped away, making room for relentless fight sequences, wild set pieces, and high-energy pacing. The plot is simple and mostly exists to keep the action moving, but it does introduce some interesting elements, like Ada Wong’s arrival and the expanding influence of Umbrella. That said, while the story has potential, it never really dives deep into anything, keeping everything surface-level.
The directing sticks to Paul W.S. Anderson’s usual style, with slow-motion overload and CGI-heavy action. The cinematography, handled once again by Glen MacPherson, maintains the same hyper-stylized approach as the previous films, and while it looks slick, it can feel repetitive. Editing-wise, it is still messy, but at this point, it is almost a signature of the franchise. Despite its flaws, the movie has some fun sequences, and a few moments hit well, especially in terms of visual spectacle.
Milla Jovovich continues to be the glue holding everything together, bringing the same energy and badassery that keeps these movies watchable. She makes every action scene feel engaging, even when the script does not offer much in terms of depth or dialogue. The soundtrack keeps up the fast-paced, high-energy vibe, fitting the film’s style. While Retribution is far from perfect, and definitely not the best in the series, it is still enjoyable in its own chaotic way. If you go into it expecting pure action and nothing else, there is fun to be had, even if the franchise’s roots are long gone.

Alice is going through an alternate world. When she finally snaps out of it, she finds herself trapped in and underworld city.