Today we’ve already had a look at the lengthy trailer for
Resident Evil 6 and now a HD version of the teaser for the latest entry in Resi’s film franchise has surfaced.
From entertaining but low budget beginnings, the
Resident Evil series has had more legs than anyone could have expected, with frequent writer/director
Paul W.S. Anderson churning out economically priced action flicks that are crowd pleasing enough to secure a decent box office return.
The move to 3D with 2010’s
Afterlife pulled in more punters than ever before, for a worldwide total of almost $300 million dollars so a sequel was a foregone conclusion. Check out the teaser for
Resident Evil: Retribution below, which once again stars Anderson’s wife
Milla Jovovich.
In case it wasn’t obvious already, the
Resident Evil series is financed by
Sony Pictures, who seem keen to cross promote their electronic products at every possible opportunity – just take a look at most of
Casino Royale (click for examples)for an example. It’s taken to new heights (or is that lows?) here though as fully a third of the trailer is nothing more than a showcase for their latest phones and tablets – even the
PS Vita gets a look in. And isn’t that voice over by
Patrick Stewart?!
When the action finally kicks off, things look like a normal day at the office for the Resi franchise, if a little more epic and apocalyptic than usual.
Jovovich spouts some repetitive lines of dialogue, there’s plenty of slow motion and a slew of characters, including a return of previously dead
Michelle Rodriguez – who has a habit of being resurrected in movie franchises of late. The
Tron Legacy soundtrack doesn’t hurt the epic feel.
The official plot synopsis runs thusly:
“The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.”
Resi may not be the most finely crafted series of films but I’ve always found them entertaining enough and there’s no denying that Anderson did some solid 3D work in
Afterlife, possibly the best use of the medium last year. If he can improve on that in Retribution and deliver some halfway decent action scenes, it looks like being a fun way to while away a November afternoon.
In addition to
Jovovich,
Retribution stars
Rodriguez,
Kevin Durand,
Jason Isaacs,
Sienna Guillory (returning as Jill Valenine – yay!),
Oded Fehr and the hilariously named
Bingbing Li appears as fan favourite
Ada Wong.
Resident Evil: Retribution is in cinemas in November 2012, in 3D.