Resident Evil: Retribution
Screen Gems | Release Date: September 14, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
10
Negative:
5
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Slant MagazineJaime N. ChristleySep 14, 2012
At this point in the franchise, Anderson is content to alight the saga on a perpetual rewind loop, ever-ending, ever-rebooting, all subsidized by his nonpareil compositional sense. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyClark CollisSep 14, 2012
Writer-director W.S. Anderson's overseeing of the Resident Evil zombie franchise has proven to be both lunatically haphazard and dementedly enthusiastic. Read full review
60
Time OutNick SchagerSep 15, 2012
Anderson utilizes slow-motion 3-D to hyperbolic effect while again casting Jovovich as the epitome of badass sexiness. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineDavid EhrlichSep 14, 2012
If it's true that movies can transport you to places you could hardly have imagined, then Resident Evil: Retribution is the cinema's ultimate passport to purgatory. Read full review
50
VarietySep 15, 2012
Even devoted fans may wonder whether this installment is actually a haphazard patchwork of outtakes from previous "Resident Evil" pictures. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonSep 14, 2012
At this point, the Resident Evil movie franchise has become a personal playground for husband-and-wife team Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich; every few years, they find another excuse to pit Jovovich's videogame-inspired dark superhero, Alice, against zombies and other gruesome monsters. Read full review
50
MovielineAlison WillmoreSep 14, 2012
It's the closest thing you'll find yet to a recreation of a video game sensibility on the big screen - which is in line with the franchise's source material - and makes for a memorably unsettling if not particularly satisfying viewing experience. Read full review
40
Total FilmKen McIntyreSep 21, 2012
Giant brains with teeth, suburban mutant zombies, more bullets than a John Woo film festival, and hot girls in skin-tight S&M outfits pummelling each other to a deafening dubstep soundtrack. If you're looking for brainless, blood-guzzling carnage, you've found it. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 19, 2012
Jovovich's physicality and chilly mien (she was originally a "project" of the Umbrella Corp.) carry the series from start to … whenever it finishes, which might not be for quite a while yet. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 15, 2012
Taking place almost entirely inside computer-simulated global locations, "Retribution" moves closer than ever to its airless video game roots. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick PinkertonSep 14, 2012
Anderson['s] lavish visual imagination is matched to a placeholder idea of character that's almost avant-garde in its generic stylization, dialogue buffed of personality by passing through 10,000 previous movies. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 14, 2012
As always, Jovovich's game face is admirable - whether giving gunslinger shade or play-acting a protective mother storyline straight-outta-Cameron. But it can't be easy when all around her are line readings that recall the glory days of baroquely dull foreign-movie dubbing. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTom RussoSep 15, 2012
Funny about retribution, though - it's a tricky thing to make time for when you've still got mutant zombie hordes after you. The real premise turns out to be a busy rehash of the first movie's story line. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam LitovitzSep 13, 2012
A few striking images keep our attention – like evil warrior Rain (Michelle Rodriguez) seated menacingly with an assault rifle on a playground swing in the 'burbs. But the film's title promises payback, without offering ample compensation. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckSep 14, 2012
She's (Milla Jovovich) constantly being besieged by a seemingly never-ending series of monsters, and we -- at least every couple of years or so -- are forced to sit through yet another installment of the mind-numbing series. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 15, 2012
Thuddingly awful. Read full review
16
The PlaylistDrew TaylorSep 15, 2012
It's a testament to the movie's lack of creativity that Anderson can't even rip off "Aliens" and have it come across as anything less than totally boring. Read full review
More From This Movie

39 Critic Reviews

5.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL