FILM REVIEW OF ''SURVIVOR" (2014)

"Ninja Assassin" director James McTeigue's "Survivor" (***1/2 OUT OF ****) qualifies as a tense, London-based, international-terrorist thriller about a wrongly accused American Foreign Service Officer sought for murdering a colleague, while a lethal assassin pursues her to finish his execution.  Milla Jovovich plays the heroine, but she isn't in full kick butt "Resident Evil" mode, wielding weapons and mixed martial arts. Instead, she is simply exemplary at her job, rides a motorcycle with style, speaks several languages, and knows how to stay one step ahead of her fleet-footed adversaries.  Nevertheless, while this makes her an efficient, no-nonsense protagonist, nothing about her character is terribly interesting. In a splendid example of casting against the grain, former 007 star Pierce Brosnan exudes menace as an evil assassin who refuses to quit. Brosnan's hit-man is nicknamed 'the Watchmaker,' and he is both smart and resourceful.  One of 'the Watchmaker's smartest efforts occurs when he takes a short-cut to catch up with our heroine as she scrambles down a staircase.  The Watchmaker spots a series of lights attached by a cable dangling in the stairway well.  Improbably, he leaps onto it and shoots out the lights as he slides down the cable.  Of course, he doesn't get her, but it is a really cool move of his part. This scene is reminiscent of Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity" when he used a man's body to drop from several floors in a stairway well to reach the bottom.  A solid supporting cast, with James D'Arcy and Angela Bassett in minor roles, backs up Jovovich and Brosnan.  At the core of this outlandish but briskly-paced thriller is a terrorist's ambitious plan to use the New Year's Eve ceremonies in Times Square as the setting to detonate a bomb.  McTeigue maintains palatable tension throughout this above-average nail-biter despite a minor lapse in credibility that occurs about three-fourths of the way through his 96-minute, PG-13 melodrama.

Passport visa clearance is a hot issue at the American Embassy in London where Kate works, and she has the final say on who gets a passport.  Nonetheless, a fellow Embassy employee, Bill Talbot (Robert Forster of "Jackie Brown"), wants her to lighten up with regard to a physician, Emile Balan (Roger Rees of "The Prestige"), who wants to attend a conference in the U.S.  Warning signs come up that alert Kate Abbott (Milla Jovovich of "The Fifth Element") and she has second thoughts.  During the prologue, two American helicopter pilots are shot down over Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, and the villainous natives let one of the pilots live while they doused the other with gasoline and immolate him. Now, Bill Talbot is struggling to get Kate out of the picture, but the villains have his son, believed dead, in custody and are blackmailing him. Indeed, he is desperate enough that the villains hire a ruthless assassin, Nash (Pierce Brosnan of "Die Another Day") to blow up the Embassy staff, including Abbott, who is attending Bill's birthday party at a fashionable British restaurant. Ironically enough, the Embassy staff are going to be served pressed duck. Our heroine escapes by the skin of her teeth because nobody remembered to bring Bill's birthday present. She leaves the restaurant and enters a shop across the street about the same time that Nash triggers the bomb. Imagine Nash's surprise when he spots Abbott in the street looking battered and worse for the wear from the experience. He whips out an automatic pistol with a silencer attached to it and pursues her.

Naturally, since Kate is the protagonist and the protagonist must survive, Nash's accuracy with his weapon is compromised enough that she escapes.  Later, adhering to protocol, she encounters Bill at a rendezvous safe zone in a public park. Shocked at her presence, Bill pulls out an automatic pistol and tries to kill Kate. The two struggle over Bill’s weapon, and Bill winds up accidentally shooting himself in the stomach. Following all the classic tropes since "North by Northwest," Kate ends up with the pistol in her fist. Moreover, Bill staggers into public view, and sightseers snap photos and lens videos of the dumbstruck Kate several steps behind the mortally wounded Talbot with the pistol conspicuously held in her hand. Of course, she denies her guilt but then takes flight. Now, the video has gone viral, and Kate's superior, Sam Parker (Dylan McDermott of "In the Line of Fire"), is trying to reach her before British authorities with shoot-on-site orders can catch her. Indeed, the troubled U.S. Ambassador, Maureen Crane (Angela Bassett of “Waiting to Exhale”) contacts British security expert Paul Anderson (James D’Arcy) and grants him clearance to kill Abbott. The first half-hour goes by really rapidly despite its formulaic shenanigans, and McTeigue generates an air of urgency as Kate takes it on the lam and Nash resolves to liquidate her. Kate enjoys extraordinary luck eluding the authorities and Nash is the kind of assassin who likes to tie up as many loose ends as possible. Incredibly, she manages to impersonate a tourist and gets back to the United States in time to barely take down Nash. The finale atop a Big Apple skyscraper with Jovovich battling it out with Brosnan will have you on the edge of your seat holding your breath. Not only does "Survivor" live up to its generic title but it also is a terrific little thriller.

FILM REVIEW OF ''RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION" (2012)

The fifth installment of the “Resident Evil” franchise “Resident Evil: Retribution” (*** out of ****) gives new meaning to the old saying: "A woman's work is never done."  Actress Milla Jovovich cavorts in her trademark, skin-tight, black outfit, wields weapons of every description which rarely run out of bullets, and performs more hyperactive gravity-defying stunts in some exotic new locales.  Indeed, this improbable science fiction fantasy series about an extremely evil corporation gone amuck should have run out of steam several sequels ago.  Nevertheless, writer and director Paul W.S. Anderson knows how to keep things exciting, and “Resident Evil: Retribution” represents another apex in the world of the villainous Umbrella Corporation versus Alice.  Basically, despite its tie-in with the Capcom survivalist video game, the “Resident Evil” movies are about Alice in zombie land versus some seriously mutated zombies along with some other scary villains.  This time around Anderson addresses the usual problem that confounds any film franchise which has endured as long as the “Resident Evil” epics.  Remember, the first “Resident Evil” appeared ten years ago!  If you haven’t seen the original film or the previous installment, how would you know what is happening?  Anderson’s solution is simplicity itself.  He presents us with an inordinate amount of back story during this nimble R-rated actioneer’s first quarter hour.  “Resident Evil: Retribution” resumes the action where “Resident Evil: Afterlife” concluded.  This gives Anderson that opportunity to hit ‘replay’ and we are treated to the last scene from the previous movie “Resident Evil: Afterlife” shown in reverse as well as forward.  As repetitive as this may seem, the scene aboard the Umbrella Corporation's Arcadia freighter where Alice and company are having the firefight of the century with hundreds of evil Umbrella helicopters is worth a rewind or two.   Those helicopters look pretty sinister, too.

After the bullet-riddled battle on the supertanker from “Resident Evil: Afterlife,”  Anderson presents an informative  recap of the entire franchise with Alice narrating her role in the saga.  Anybody who either missed or shunned earlier “Resident Evil” entries will know what their bearings are when “Retribution” unfolds its own narrative.  The chief villains in this entry are the Red Queen as well as Alice’s former compatriot Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) who sports a red scarab on her chest.  The Red Queen controls her through the scarab.   As the action opens, we find our indestructible heroine living a perfectly normal existence with a handsome hubby Carlos (Oded Fehr of “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” and “Extinction”) and their hearing impaired daughter Becky (Aryana Engineer of “Orphan”) in Raccoon City.  No sooner have we gotten used to this picture of domestic bliss than zombies burst out of nowhere and chaos rules.  What comes as an even greater surprise is that during her flight from these ravenous undead, Alice encounters her old friend Rain (Michelle Rodriguez of “The Fast and the Furious”) who picks up both Alice and Becky before the fleet-footing zombies can chomp her.   Unfortunately, Alice runs smack into husband who is now a zombie.  

Afterward, Alice awakens in an Umbrella Corporation interrogation room. She finds herself dressed much the same way she was at the end of the original “Resident Evil.”  Alice’s nemesis Jill wants Alice to reveal who she is working for.  Meantime, Alice wants Jill to remember that she once fought alongside her before the Red Queen gained mastery over her.  Just when the Umbrella baddies think that they have Alice cornered, somebody hacks into their system and gives Alice the opportunity to escape.  The Red Queen is an obnoxious little brat with a British accent who keeps reminding Alice that she will have her killed.  Meantime, the resistance forces campaigning against the Umbrella Corporation have to blast their way into a former Soviet submarine base where the Umbrella Corporation has constructed sophisticated mock-ups of Tokyo,  Moscow, Berlin, and New York City.  The only adversaries AWOL from this “Resident Evil” are the undead Dobermans.  At the same time, Anderson has brought back a giant galloping ogre beast along with two tall guys with gigantic mallets that look like meat tenderizers. 

The interesting thing about this “Resident Evil” entry is that Anderson never allows us to lose sight of the plot.  Good movies are like a car with bright headlights penetrating the murk on a dark road.  You always see where you are going, and Anderson inserts numerous recaps to keep us abreast of where we are.  Anderson also stages several acrobatic fights that look genuinely exhilarating.  Indeed, Alice rarely runs out of somebody to shoot.  At one point, our heroine actually runs out of bullets, but she resorts to a little battlefield salvage and appropriates some firearms from a fallen comrade who was gulped by a huge, four-legged ogre that also gobbled her daughter.  Alice learns later that the Umbrella Corporation imprinted all of the child’s memories in her mind. Worse, Alice discovers that the Umbrella Corporation has cloned scores of copies of herself.  The only thing that Anderson does that has been done already is the use of x-ray shots as bones are being broken during a fight; this gimmick was used first in the Jet Li thriller “Romeo Must Die.”  Eventually, Alice runs into an old adversary, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who has some dastardly ideas up his sleeve.  Wesker once commanded the Umbrella Corporation.  He appears here to bring Alice full circle with a revelation near the end that stuns her.

Most 3-D action movies constitute a painful experience.   Comparatively, the 3-D version of “Resident Evil: Retribution” surpasses the flat version.  Apparently, Anderson is the one of the few directors who understands that the best 3-D launches objects, whether an ax or a bullet, at the audience.  Too many contemporary 3-D movies are content to depict action in an environment that emphasizes depth rather than dimension.  Anderson relies on horror movie shocks and endless, noisy firefights to keep the action from flagging. “Resident Evil: Retribution” qualifies as an above-average 3-D fantasy that gives you a reason to wear those infuriating spectacles.  Skillfully staged action scenes, a slam-bang Tomandandy soundtrack, and ingenious production designs as well as settings make “Resident Evil: Retribution” worth watching.  Yes, “Resident Evil: Retribution” leaves things open for a sequel.