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.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE SPECIALIST'' (1975)

Adam West of ABC-TV's "Batman" fame stars in "The Specialist" (* out of ****), a bland inconsequential potboiler about inappropriate conduct between a juror and a defense counsel. He's cast as attorney Jerry Bounds, counsel for the defense in a case about a water company, where opposing counsel Pike Smith (veteran western character actor John Anderson of "Young Billy Young") is determined to have him disbarred from the trial. 

Everything starts when Smith is sacked from his job at the water company, and he wants back on the board. When the head of the water company, Arthur Farley(Chuck Boyd of "Predator 2") refuses to reinstate him, Smith hires sleazy, low-life private investigator Alec Sharkey (film director Howard Avedis masquerading as Russell Schmidt) who enlists the aid of a beautiful woman for $5-thousand to seduce Bounds and get a mistrial declared in the case. Blond Ahna Capri, a veteran TV actress that appeared in virtually every memorable 1960s' TV series from "The Wild Wild West" to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." to "It Takes a Thief," doesn't mind displaying her ample buxom charms as Londa Weyth. People refer to her as "The Specialist" because sex is her specialty,and she sets to work to seduce Bounds. Smith arranges for Londa to serve as a juror in the case. Meanwhile,Bounds repeatedly warns her that their flirtatious affair could ruin his career. Poor Jerry Bounds is hopelessly seduced by her, and Sharkey snaps several incriminating photos of the two cavorting near a reservoir while the judge and a bailiff watch them. Bailiff Humbolt is played by none other than Alvy Moore of TV's "Green Acres" where he played Hank Kimball.

Not content with having Bounds taken off the case, Smith goes even further and tries to get Bounds disbarred. Meanwhile, Bounds' wife Elizabeth (Avedis' wife Marlene Schmidt of "They're Playing with Fire") learns that Londa moved into a house a week before the trial and was seen in public with Pike Smith's son Hardin (Harvey Jason of "Too Late the Hero"), who etches nude pictures of sexy women. This is the first surprise in this tame little thriller; the wife would rather stand by her erring husband in this predicament than divorce him. Elizabeth decides to find out how Londa became juror number six in so short a time, while Bounds confronts Londa in San Francisco with a subpoena. Sharkey eavesdrops on their conversation and contacts Pike Smith; Sharkey hits Smith up for $20-thousand, so Londa and he can clear out of the country. At the same, Smith is going to send his artist son Howard to England, because the Bounds know about his involvement in the affair. Eventually, Sharkey catches up with Smith, and they struggle in Smith's basement where the armed Sharkey tries to pick up his blackmail money. Incredibly, Sharkey—who has a revolver on him at the time—doesn't shoot Smith when he has the opportunity. Smith has Sharkey jammed in the doors of his safe room while the two struggle. Sharkey is a prime example of a stupid villain. He could have shot Smith, but he is too brainless take advantage of his one chance. The ultimate injustice comes when the Bar Association disbars Bounds despite the death of Sharkey. In the last scene, misguided, idiotic hero Jerry Bounds pursues Pike Smith outside against his wife's advice and guns him down in broad daylight with a revolver. Fade out.

Director Howard Avedis is a fan of the slow zoom out to reveal, a technique that most filmmakers embraced during the 1960s. Aside from one or two locations, everything appears to have been lensed in cramped hotel rooms. The pacing is comatose, and the music is light but cheerful. West, Anderson, and Moore are the three biggest names in this incoherent mishmash. The only thing that stands out in this movie is that the hero is doomed by his own incompetence from the start; he repeatedly warns the femme fatale that he could lose his career as a lawyer. Nevertheless, Jerry Bounds cheats on his wife and pays the consequences. Of course, we expect that the hero will clear his name and his honor, but he does neither and that makes this half-witted Crown International release look truly dim-witted and anti-climactic.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE WORDS" (2012)

 "TRON: Legacy" writers Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal have written and directed their first film together about the controversial issue of plagiarism. "The Words" (** OUT OF ****) qualifies as an initially provocative but ultimately anti-climatic melodrama about purloined prose. This loquacious, 96-minute, PG-13-rated film shuns physical action so it shares little in common with the traditional end-of-the-summer blockbusters. You won't find any careening car chases, white-knuckled fistfights, and sensational shoot-outs in this contemplative morality play. The first half of "The Words" is deliciously audacious, but Klugman and Sternthal undercut everything  afterward with a devastating revelation. The main characters that Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Irons incarnate aren't real people! Instead, Cooper and Irons embody nobody characters in a story that another character has created. After this stunning surprise, "The Words" unravels as a second-rate story-within-a-story. Basically, this is a soap opera about another soap opera with losers who have struggled against formidable odds to fail miserably. Mind you, the tragic characters that Cooper and Irons portray are sympathetic in several respects. Nevertheless, the resolution to their conflict lacks dramatic impact. After our protagonist admits that he has appropriated another man's words, nothing happens that truly tops his confession that he ripped off another man’s verbiage. Ironically, the real author never receives credit because too many other people would suffer undue hardship. Meantime, the actual author who created these woebegone characters—played by Dennis Quaid--emerges as far less complicated than his own characters. Had Klugman and Sternthal jettisoned the framing device of a narrator, this could have been a better film.  The problem that the two filmmakers never deal with satisfactorily is the overwhelming inertia of their narrative.  This is a very dull movie about characters that don’t have a shred of charisma. "The Words" boasts solid performances by an attractive cast featuring John Hannah, Olivia Wilde, J.K. Simmons, Ron Rifkin, Michael McKean, Zoë Saldana, and Liz Stauber.

Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper of “The A-Team”) dreams about writing the great American novel.  The problem is that he is living on next to nothing in New York City and his genius had taken him nowhere. Rory persuades his reluctant father (J.K. Simmons of “Contraband”) to foot his bills while he forges his literature.  This movie should have been released on Father’s Day, because Simmons plays a father who is worth his salt. Eventually, Rory is called into an agent’s office. The agent commends him for writing a wonderful novel, but he describes Rory’s book as too “interior.” Rory decides to take a job at a publishing house where he supervises the distribution of mail and manuscripts to agents.  One day Rory pulls out a frayed leather satchel that his wife, Dora (Zoë Saldana of “Avatar”), brought for him from a Parisian antique shop after they had visited Ernst Hemingway’s apartment.  Years later, Rory discovers an anonymous manuscript on yellowed typing paper in a concealed compartment of the satchel.  He reads it and admires what he peruses.  

 Essentially, the novel is a melodramatic tearjerker set in Europe about an American soldier (Ben Barnes of “Dorian Gray”) and a French waitress Celia (Nora Arnezeder of “Safe House”) who fall in love near the end of World War II.  The man who penned it was living in Paris, and he entrusted the manuscript to his girlfriend.  Unfortunately, she left it accidentally behind in a storage compartment aboard her seat on the train.  The author never recovered his manuscript until he read the story published under Rory’s name.  Naturally, Rory is floored by this revelation.  Consider Rory’s defense.  He read the novel and felt that if he could transcribe it to his computer that he might catch the magic of the author’s prose so that it might improve his own writing.  Rory doesn’t change so much as a single mark of punctuation.  He hands it to an agent at the publishing house, Joseph Cutler (Zeljko Ivanek of “The Bourne Legacy”), and Cutler loves it.  The novel proves to be a sensational bestseller.  One day while he is spending time alone in Central Park, Rory meets the elderly gentleman who wrote the manuscript.  Imagine Rory’s shock at being busted for plagiarism. The old man (Jeremy Irons of “Die Hard with a Vengeance”) tells Rory everything that he remembers about his story.  The shock sets in, and Rory finds himself trapped in a minefield of moral repercussions. Rory is no villain, and he is fully prepared to expose himself for the plagiarist that he is, but everybody advises him against making any foolish decisions that may jeopardize his career!  During all this rigmarole, Rory and Dora squabble because she feels that he has not been truthful to her.

After the third act, “The Words” coasts gently without surprise to its lackluster finale.  The last part of the action concerns bestselling author, Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid of “Footloose”), once he concludes his public appearance where he read selections from his novel “The Words” about Rory’s plight.  Clay’s agent Richard Ford (John Hannah of “Four Weddings and the Funeral”) introduces him to a Columbia graduate school, Daniella (Olivia Wilde of “Cowboys and Aliens”), who wants to interview him.  She demands to know more than Ford has shared with anybody about Rory’s fate.  By this time, fatigue has set in and “The Words” concludes feebly with neither striking insights nor spiraling revelations.  

FILM REVIEW OF ''KING OF THE COWBOYS" (1943)

Roy Rogers tangles with Axis sympathizers in director Joseph Kane's "King of the Cowboys," a contemporary Republic Pictures western set during World War II. Basically, "King of the Cowboys" (**1/2 OUT OF ****) is an espionage oater. You won't find any Fifth Columnists either wielding Lugars or snarling oaths, but these American traitors mean business. Incidentally, neither Kane nor scenarists Olive Cooper, J. Benton Cheney, and Hal Long ever identify the people that these anarchists are supporting. Roy sings "I'm an Old Cowhand," "Ride, Ranger, Ride," "Red River Valley," and "Roll Along Prairie Moon." Roy has several interesting scenes, including his escape from a warehouse wired to blow sky high. Pat Brady, one of the Sons of the Pioneers, utters an immortal line of dialogue that I always thought was first used in the 1982 epic "Conan the Barbarian": "Do you want to live forever?" Most of the physical action involves the kind of derring-do that was the bread and butter of Republic's serials. Gerald Mohr provides sufficient villainy as the kind of felon who has no qualms about indiscriminate murder. Gene Autry's perennial sidekick Smiley Burnette plays Roy's right-hand man Frog Millhouse and serves as comic relief. One of the gimmicks the villains deploy to wreck the car filled with good guys predates a similar gimmick that the villains used against James Bond when he careered around Goldfinger's factory in the third OO7 epic.  The villains are a technologically savvy bunch.

A sabotage ring is terrorizing Texas, and the dastards are destroying warehouses with explosives. Texas Governor Shuville (Russell Hicks of "Captain America") summons Roy Rogers and Frog Millhouse about an incident that occurred when they pursued the Wilson gang to Arkansas. They confronted the outlaws in a saloon that straddled the border between Arkansas and Texas. One of them is Duke Wilson (Stuart Hamblen), and Duke robbed the rodeo where Roy worked. Predictably, the Arkansas sheriff (Herbert Heyes of "New York Confidential") isn't happy about Roy's decision and lodges a formal complaint with  Governor Shuville. "Rogers," Shuville observes, "I like the way you work. I like your nerve. I can use a fast-thinking man like you. In fact, I need you for an assignment." The Governor wants Roy to infiltrate a group that has thwarted each of his operatives. He wants Roy because "the fellows after you wouldn't mistake you for anything but a cowboy." The Governor briefs Roy, "There is a wave of sabotage sweeping through this territory with the precision of a well-organized gang. All my efforts to apprehend them have failed." The Governor warns Roy that his predecessor died making his report by telephone. The only available clues are the words: "following Merry." Roy volunteers to take care of the problem for the Governor. The chief executive asks Roy to memorize a secret phone number. This will be the only way they will communicate until they close the case. The Governor is the only man who knows about Roy’s mission.  This became a familiar but suspenseful ruse in mystery-thrillers.  The only man who can vouch for the discredited hero is a law enforcement official of the highest authority who winds up indisposed.

What the Governor has no way of knowing is that his personal secretary, William Kraley (Lloyd Corrigan of "Son of Paleface"), is the leader of the saboteurs. A suspicious Kraley warns Maurice (Gerald Mohr of "The Angry Red Planet") and his henchmen to be on the look-out for Roy Rogers.  He explains that Roy Rogers quit the rodeo after a private conference with the Governor.  Kraley tells them their new "key word: triplets."Later, while Roy is singing and strumming his guitar in the back of a cafe, two actresses from The Merry Makers Carnival and Tent Show enter and order the $35 cent lunch. Roy serves them coffee, and they have a conversation. "Every town we play has an explosion or a fire," Judy Mason (Peggy Moran of "Horror Island") points out. The other girl, Ruby Smith (Dorothea Kent of "Pin-Up Girl"), gripes because an explosion interrupted her dancing act. Roy says he is looking for a job, and Judy agrees to notify her stepbrother Dave (James Bush of "Massacre River") about Roy needing employment. The comments about the explosions arouse Roy's suspicions after the Ruby uses the words “following Merry.” He visits the carnival in the town of Rawhide with Frog. Roy decides to join the carnival to learn first-hand what is really happening behind the scenes. The carnival features a mind-reading act with a turban-clad individual known as Maurice the Mental Marvel. Actually, Maurice is Kraley's second-in-command. The act is rather sophisticated. A cowgirl with a microphone in her ring, Judy Mason, which she calls 'the mystic stone' asks spectators to confidentially address their problems to the stone. Interestingly, the stone serves as a microphone. A man behind the stage, usually David Mason, sits at a radio transmitter and relays the information to a man in a turban and a robe. Roy and Frog disrupt Maurice's show and their commotion prompts Mason to give Roy a chance to sing. Later, after he lies about  a date with Judy, Roy has a run-in with Maurice, and they tie him up and abandon him in a warehouse about to be blown to smithereens. Afterward, Roy contacts Shuville, and the Governor and his men cruise into a trap because Kraley listened in on their conversation. They think they are about to have a head-on collision with another vehicle when in fact all that is happening is they are driving toward a huge mirror. This is rather ingenious. The Governor's car tumbles down the side of a mountain.

Meantime, Roy suspects that they have trapped the saboteur when Frog and he take over the mind-reading act. Maurice catches Roy using the receiver. When he is about to shoot Roy, Mason threatens to expose them all. Instead of Roy, Maurice shoots Dave in the back. Maurice frames Roy for Dave's murder. During his stay in jail, Roy learns that the Governor isn't expected to survive the car crash. Roy telephones Frog, who appears in a disguise masquerading as Roy's grandfather, and tells him to tell Judy about Maurice's treachery. Judy and Ruby arrange for Roy to escape from jail and returns to the carnival. Kraley passes along information during the Maurice act. Maurice tries to intervene, and Roy guns down Kraley. Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers hightail it on horseback to prevent the saboteurs from dynamiting a metal bridge that a train will cross. Roy climbs the bridge and defuses the dynamite. While he is climbing on the bridge, Maurice's henchmen keep him busy dodging their lead and firing back at them.

"King of the Cowboys" is a predictable but entertaining, lightweight espionage western. Roy Rogers makes a charismatic, clean-cut hero in a white Stetson. He warbles several tolerable songs.  Veteran director Joe Kane keeps the action constantly moving headlong so this B-movie doesn't wear out its welcome during its 56-minute running length.