Alice fights alongside a resistance movement to regain her freedom from an Umbrella Corporation testing facility.
How in the hell did this series get this far?
I gotta be honest with you here, by now I’ve run out of patience and if I didn’t have to watch these films to review them I would’ve stopped at “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” like I originally did (though I was forced to watch that one too). Watching the rest of this series has been a real chore, I don’t know how this series just kept going on.
Well actually I can, for some strange reason this film series became a serious cash cow and this cow was being milked for every single penny. The problem is that by now it’s all about style over substance, well it had been going this way for a while but this film finally pushes it over to the edge where as I’ve said before it just becomes a vanity project.
The original plan from Paul W.S. Anderson was to film this movie simultaneously with the sixth installment in the series, making a two part finale. In the early stages of development Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller were included in the cast list. Shockingly though the studio backed out of the arranged filming for two movies, Claire and Chris Redfield were removed from the production plans.
Even though this would be a standalone film it was made aware to moviegoers that this was the beginning of the end (finally). The script was just absurd and was full of inconsistencies, the acting was so wooden and stale, the cast just seemed wholly uninterested and don’t even get me started on the dreadful CGI, I’ve seen better on an actual video game.
“Resident Evil: Retribution” is atrocious but atleast it was the beginning of the end.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
The character Becky was not originally to be hearing-impaired, but after an outstanding audition, the role was given to Aryana Engineer.
While filming a fight scene with Milla Jovovich, a mishap occurred causing 16 actors to fall off a scaffolding and sent to the hospital. As a result, filming was shutdown for a few days and Jovovich visited some of the actors in the hospital.
Bingbing Li’s entire dialogue was dubbed by Sally Cahill who voiced Ada Wong in the video games (2, Darkside Chronicles and 4).
During the car chase with the Zombie Russian army the music playing is called ‘Phantom Chase’ by tomandandy. This references music from the original Resident Evil (1996) video game, particularly ‘Second Floor Mansion’.
The first movie of the series not to feature the Cerberus AKA Undead Dogs.
The voice over for the trailer of the film is Patrick Stewart.
The scene between Ada Wong and Alice in the underground office is a re-enactment of the scene in Resident Evil 4 (2005) where Leon S. Kennedy meets with Ada for the first time in the Salazar Family castle bedroom.
The idea of cloning the umbrella soldiers may have stemmed from a comment made in an audio commentary of the original Resident Evil (2002) film. Michelle Rodriguez said that Colin Salmon should be brought back in a sequel as a clone. Ultimately, this came true for Salmon as well as Rodriguez and Oded Fehr.
Michelle Rodriguez played a third character. Apart from her good and evil versions she also portrayed a zombie doppelganger. As Ada Wong explains Umbrella tests every clone in different levels of Biohazard. The scene was cut in the editing process along with many scenes in the suburban house with Alice and her family.
Although Carlos Olivera has a major role in the plot, Oded Fehr’s name is curiously absent from the opening titles.
This is the first time in Resident Evil history that Jill and Leon have ever met. Canon or otherwise.
Las Plagas is a parasite in the video games. However its depiction in the film is not accurate, since in the games it is merely a symbiotic entity and not a microorganism which grants immunity to injuries as in this film.
In what may be an intended pun, a licker crashes into a liquor store in the Moscow simulation.
Jensen Ackles was considered for the role of Leon S. Kennedy, but the role later went to Johann Urb.
Despite the fact that it is one of the first scenes in the film, Alice’s fall in the water was one of the last sequences to be filmed. There was an extra shot of Jill Valentine and Umbrella soldiers pulling Alice out of the water which was cut in the editing process.
Won the Canadian Screen Award for Achievement in Visual Effects (2013)
There are 3 scenes from Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) that were reused in this movie: 1. J-pop girl attacking Japanese businessman 2. The scene showing A serum flowing through Alice’s veins 3. The Ospreys approaching the Arcadia to attack.
Every other Resident Evil film had a different composer for the soundtrack. This is however the first time that the music was written by the same people in two consecutive films. Tomandandy (a duo of composers) scored Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) and returned to write the soundtrack for this film as well.
This is the second Resident Evil spin-off to feature Leon Scott Kennedy and Barry Burton working together in an “anti-umbrella” unit. The two also collaborated in the non-canon Resident Evil Gaiden (2001). Although, the story reveals that the Leon in that game was an impostor and the real Leon had died.
Leon and Ada are the only Resident Evil couple to debut together and have their romance hinted in the films. Nearly all Resident Evil games features a Heterosexual couple with romantic hints.
Resident Evil: Zero – Billy Cohen and Rebecca Chambers (neither have appeared in the films)
Resident Evil (1996) Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine (Both have appeared in the films, have not met until off screen at the end of Afterlife)
Resident Evil 2 (1998) – Leon S.Kenedy and Ada Wong
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) – none (Carlos Olivera hints an attraction to Jill Valentine, however in the films he is the love interest of Alice)
Resident Evil: Survivor 2 – Code Veronica (2001) – Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside (Steve does not appear in the films)
Resident Evil 4 (2005) – Leon S.Kenedy and Ada Wong
Resident Evil 5 (2009) – Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker and Excella Gionne, Josh Stone and Sheva Alomar (the latter three never appear in the films)
Resident Evil 6 (Commercial) (2012) – Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin (neither appear in the films though Angela Ashford replaces the latter in Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004))
The idea of using environmental simulations references the 4th game based novel Resident Evil Underworld, where there were 4 environmental simulations; a forest, a desert, a mountain, and a city.
Alice and Becky and especially the scene which Alice frees Becky from a cocoon was written as an obvious nod to Aliens (1986), mostly the characters of Ripley and Newt and the scene which Ripley frees Newt from a cocoon in the confrontation with the Alien Queen.
Unlike the films, Barry and Leon are not partners in crime. Barry and Leon have not appeared together in any canon-games. Barry is a very close friend to the Redfield family (Chris and Claire especially). He appears alongside Chris in Resident Evil and Claire in Resident Evil: Revealations 2. It is possible he knows Leon in the games through Claire (Claire and Leon both debut in Resident Evil 2 (1998)). Chris and Leon know each other through Claire Redfield, however they first appear together in Resident Evil 6 (2012) where the two already know each other.
Suburbia is actually Raccoon City as evidenced by a brief shot of a crashed helicopter. The helicopter belonged to the local news station.
Is the only film in the series to feature characters Leon S. Kennedy, Barry Burton, Ada Wong, and Becky. Except for the latter, all of these characters appeared in the video games.
According to the script, the chronology of the film’s events allegedly take place some weeks after the end of Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010).
The ending of the 4th film was shot on the exterior of a real abandoned ship. When it came time to film the opening sequence of this film however, the crew were surprised to discover that the ship had been back in use and therefore was no longer available. As a result the Arcadia battle was eventually filmed on a soundstage replica of the real ship.
Although not mentioned in the finished film the back-story reveals that the majority of the Umbrella soldiers are clones. This accounts for their vast numbers and explains their allegiance to Umbrella. The only time that this is hinted at is during the scene after the reboot in the facility systems. Jill Valentine is activated through the Red Queen and all the soldiers seem to wake up simultaneously.
According to the official novelization Alice intended to dock the Arcadia ship in the nearest island, Katalina. She believed it would be a safe place with few undead creatures. The trip was never realized because of the attack. The novelization clarifies that during the gunfire Alice lost the Redfields from her eyesight and never knew what happened to them.
In the scene where Alice and Ada fight the two Executioners, one of them throws his axe and sticks it into a fuel truck. The label on the truck is “H. GORENSTEIN GASOLINE AND FUEL”. Hartley Gorenstein is the production manager for this film.
The Executioner scene was not scripted to appear in the film. However it was added during filming.
The film would not reveal who was the instigator of the simulations and the imprisonment of Alice. Since Wesker is now a renegade agent, someone else had to be in charge of Umbrella. The Red Queen was finally chosen as the main antagonist in the final stages of scripting. This provides an explanation for both the governance of the Umbrella soldiers and the betrayal of Wesker.
The only movie in the series thus far not to contain any flashback scenes.
The fake name of Alice’s husband played by Oded Fehr, who also reprises his role of Carlos, is never revealed in the film. The script and the film’s novelization however reveal his name supposed to be Todd .
The Theatrical Cut implies that Alice has some vague memories of what happens to her clones. This is corroborated in the Extended Cut. This subplot is taken one step further and the telepathic link is revealed to be working in reverse as well. Subarban Alice seems to have imprinted memories of her prototype which come in the form of nightmares.
The demise of Rain was the fall in the icy water. It was Milla Jovovich’s suggestion that the swimming zombies had to appear as well and it was added during production.
There was footage filmed of a flash back scene with Luther West wandering in the streets of Los Angeles until a chopper picked him up. He was an eyewitness to the Arcadia battle and the capture of Alice. This was the incentive for Leon Kennedy to save Luther. The crucial information about the imprisonment of Alice helped West join the rescue team. The extra scenes of Luther in Los Angeles were removed from the final cut.
Among the test floors appearing in the holographic maps (like Tokyo,Moscow etc) there is also one more entry in the facilities. It is Berlin which never appears in the film. There was a brief sequence in a simulated Berlin in some drafts of the script. It was eventually scrapped.
An early version of the script reveals that the entire elite Unit that infiltrated the Hive in the first film were clones. This explains more fluently the reappearance of Rain and One. Although this subplot was eliminated from the film there is still a hint. Ada Wong explains to Alice that Umbrella utilizes 50 basic models for the clones by simply changing their memories and their predicament. Alice herself is one of the 50 prototypes. This information actually foreshadows the revelations about Alice’s past in the sixth film.
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