Posts Tagged ‘antarctica’
Resident Evil Retribution: Review
Directed once again by Paul W.S Anderson and starring Milla Jovovich, this movie picks up exactly where Afterlife left off. Alice ends up being captured by the Umbrella Corporation and taken to a secret facility where they intend to do further tests on her. Albert Wesker, who no longer is affiliated with Umbrella after the resurgence of The Red Queen, sends in a special operative named Ada Wong to help Alice escape. Its discovered that the facility that she is being held is underwater in the Antarctic and a special group of soldiers (also sent by Wesker) are being sent in to guide them back to the surface. Their only opportunity to survive is to make their way back to the surface and escape the underwater tomb.
I’ve been a fan of most of the Resident Evil films but this one just didn’t make the cut. The start of this movie showed what happened after the previous film ended……but in reverse and in slow motion. Then they showed the whole sequence again in regular speed. This seemed to be nothing more than a time killer and a waste of 10 minutes of the movie. After that Alice proceeded to retell the whole story of the outbreak from the very beginning again. I think after four movies (and seeing the same thing in each one) we as an audience know how everything began and I felt like this was a waste of another 10 minutes. All it felt like was a recycled film. They pulled everything from the previous movies (and stuff from the games) and pulled them together to make this one. Sounds harsh but it’s entirely true. They’ve taken this franchise and turned it into something different. Sure they include characters from the game to make you feel like it’s Resident Evil but it’s definitely not Resident Evil anymore. I LOVE zombie movies and I was really disappointed that the zombies were really not even the focus. They showed up here and there but were quickly defeated and pushed aside. I think the ultimate bad move was the inclusion of military zombies that drove vehicles, shot guns and rode motorcycles. In my opinion they were trying to capitalize on the whole Call of Duty Zombies craze. Every fight scene was in slow motion and had too much wire work. I mean how many times can you see Alice do a triple back flip then kick a zombie in the head and still say “I totally believe that could happen”. The dialogue was horribly written and extremely cheesy. It just made everyone seem so robotic. Anderson just needs to stop making these movies, wait a few years and let the studio reboot it or something. It’s gone too far. It was entertaining in moments but those moments weren’t enough to make this a hit for me. I say watch it if you must but I would call this a “wait for Redbox or Cable” kind of movie. It’s a shame too.
The Thing (2011): Review
This film tells what happens that leads up to the events of the 1982 film “John Carpenter’s The Thing”. A Norwegian research team stumble upon a spaceship and an extraterrestrial being out in the Antarctic snow. They return back to base with “The Thing” (frozen in a block of ice) and call on Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to examine the recent find. While celebrating their discovery it breaks out and wreaks havoc on the crew. It isn’t until after their first encounter with the creature that they realize it kills its prey and replicates its body, hiding itself in plain sight.
There’s something about this flick thats a bit more disturbing than the 1982 sequel. I don’t know exactly what it is but I think alot of it has to do with the advancement of movie effects. The way the creature reveals itself and tears the hosts’ body open on numerous occasions is the key “gross out” factor of this film…..and I loved every minute of it! It says alot when a movie makes me not want to eat or drink anything while I’m watching it. This one does the trick. That, along with the fact that everyone is being questioned and no one can be trusted makes this a great horror/thriller flick. I’m glad that this ended up being a prequel rather than a remake for the simple fact that I remember watching the original so many times and always wondering what happened at the base they stumble upon. They made the gap between the two movies rather seamless and it shows. If you watch both movies back to back (i really suggest you do) and pay close attention to the end of the 2011 version and watch the beginning of the 1982 version, the continuity that is kept at the Norwegian base excellent. From the creature that is out in the snow, down to a simple thing as an ax in a wall. A definite watch if you’re interested in a nice little scare.
The Thing is out on DVD and Blu-Ray 1/31/12
