Film
Resident Evil: Retribution
- Survival adventure
- Post-apocalyptic
- Relentless
The fifth Resident Evil film finds Milla Jovovich's Alice trapped in Umbrella's underground facility, fighting zombies and bioengineered horrors across simulated global environments. It's a breakneck action-horror rollercoaster that cares less about plot coherence than relentless momentum and practical gore effects. For fans who want creature carnage, cliffhanger twists, and the kind of movie where narrative logic goes out the window so stunt choreography can dominate.
If you liked this
The Fifth Element1997
Luc Besson's maximalist action-sci-fi blueprint: gorgeous production design, kinetic fight choreography, and a narrative that moves faster than you can process it. Pure visual momentum over everything else.
But The plot doesn't bear scrutiny and the dialogue swings wildly between styles. If you need dialogue to anchor you, this will feel scattered.

Doom2005
Another video-game adaptation that embraces action spectacle over adaptation fidelity. Karl Urban and The Rock fighting demonic mutations in a Mars facility—exactly as silly as it sounds and committed to the bit.
But It's aggressively dumb and the script is thin. The novelty of the first-person sequence wears off. Basically a feature-length one-liner.

Underworld2003
Kate Beckinsale in leather fighting vampires and werewolves with the same earnest action-movie commitment. Gothic visual style, practical creature work, and a franchise that knows what it is.
But The Vampire-Werewolf politics can feel tedious between action beats. It takes its mythology seriously in ways that may feel overwrought.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Resident Evil: Retribution
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City2021
Both are video-game adaptations that prioritize set-piece action over narrative coherence, but Raccoon City remembered that horror comes from vulnerability and geography, not just explosions.
A reboot that strips away the globe-trotting action and returns to the franchise's video-game roots: a trapped-in-a-mansion survival story with practical monsters and genuine dread. It's smaller and scarier, which is shocking given the direction the series took.
But It jettisons Milla Jovovich and the entire continuity you've been following. The budget is tighter, the scope narrower. If you loved the escalating spectacle, this feels like a step backward.

More like this (8)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse2004
The second film in the series is still lean and propulsive, with inventive zombie-action sequences and actual chemistry between cast members. It balances spectacle with character moments better than Retribution does.
But The video-game adaptation logic might feel dated now. It's messier and cheaper-looking than the later films, which some prefer and others find hard to forgive.

John Wick2014
A masterclass in action filmmaking that respects geography, choreography, and consequence. Keanu Reeves shooting and moving with clarity and purpose. Proof that action cinema can be both visceral and elegant.
But It's considerably slower-paced than Resident Evil, more deliberate. If you want non-stop sensation, this meditation on violence might feel restrained.

Mad Max: Fury Road2015
Two hours of propulsive vehicular chaos with practical stunts, minimal plot interference, and visual storytelling that never stops moving. George Miller at his most exuberant and controlled.
But The narrative is threadbare—a chase film doesn't appeal to everyone. Some find the relentless noise and action exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Dredd2012
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in a dense sci-fi tower tackling crime through practical violence and gunplay. Grounded action filmmaking with style and world-building crammed into 95 minutes of pure competence.
But The third-act pacing slackens and the plot is straightforward almost to blandness. It's a midquel masquerading as a standalone.

Anaconda1997
Jon Voight being deliriously over-the-top as the villain, practical creature effects, jungle set-pieces, and complete commitment to B-movie spectacle. Pure entertainment without self-consciousness.
But The CGI is visibly dated now. Some of the acting ranges from hammy to wooden, and the plot is aggressively simple.

Deep Blue Sea1999
Genetically modified sharks terrorizing humans in an underwater facility. Renny Harlin delivers genuine tension, practical animatronics, and kills characters when you don't expect it. Efficient creature-action filmmaking.
But The script is thin and the dialogue clunky. The middle drags and some set-pieces feel repetitive by the end.

Annihilation2018
Both feature women navigating dangerous environments full of transformed creatures and unanswered questions about corporate conspiracy, but Annihilation uses that setup to ask what comes after survival.
A sci-fi horror film where a team enters a mysterious zone to investigate what happened to an expedition. It has that same 'locked facility of bioengineered horrors' DNA but elevated to art-film ambition: haunting, visually stunning, existentially unsettling.
But It's contemplative and deliberately paced where Retribution is kinetic. Answers aren't provided. Many found it frustratingly vague, and the body horror is slow and creeping rather than explosive.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain2013
Both feature a female protagonist with fragmented memories of who they are, fighting through a world of artificial threats to uncover the truth about their own creation—but Ghost in the Shell uses that premise to examine consciousness itself.
A cyberpunk action film from Kazuyoshi Katayama with virtuosic fight choreography, philosophical depth about identity, and a protagonist who doesn't know her own past. Beautiful animated action with genuine stakes and mystery.
But It's anime, which requires a different literacy. It's considerably slower and more cerebral than Resident Evil. The plot requires attention, and there's no spectacle without context.

People
Cast
Milla JovovichAlice
Sienna GuilloryJill Valentine
Aryana EngineerBecky
Li BingbingAda Wong
Boris KodjoeLuther West
Johann UrbLeon S. Kennedy- Robin KasyanovSergei
Kevin DurandBarry Burton- Ofilio PortilloTony
Oded FehrTodd / Carlos
Colin SalmonOne
Directing
- Daniela SaioniContinuity
- Paul W. S. AndersonDirector
- Jamie ChristopherFirst Assistant Director
- Margaret TanodScript Supervisor
- Susan MarucciScript Supervisor
- Matthew SharpSecond Assistant Director
Writing
- Paul W. S. AndersonWriter
Production
- Aaron HortonAssistant Production Coordinator
- Deirdre BowenCasting
- Daniel EdwardsCasting Assistant
- Christopher RichardsCasting Associate
- Martin MoszkowiczExecutive Producer
- Lorraine ProctorFirst Assistant Accountant
- Hartley GorensteinLine Producer
- Eugene TrubetskoyLocation Manager
- Jonathan MatthewsLocation Manager
- Paul CaffertyPost Production Accountant
- Emma Sanders FinlaysonPost Production Coordinator
- Alexander DostalProducer
- Don CarmodyProducer
- Jeremy BoltProducer
- Paul W. S. AndersonProducer
- James F. BreithauptProduction Accountant
- Evgenii ChetveryakovProduction Assistant
- Stas NovakProduction Assistant
- Vazgen HachatryanProduction Assistant
- Igor SushevskiyProduction Coordinator
- Karen DobleProduction Coordinator
- Stefan SteenProduction Coordinator
- Aishleen McCannProduction Secretary
- Wiebke DöhlaPublicist
- Lisa MarraSecond Assistant Accountant