3. The Action Sequences
Now, this is something that even haters do admire: Anderson knows action; Milla Jovovich, the series' star, knows action; put them together and you have some of the most amazing fight sequences ever put on film. Ahh, where to begin. Apocalypse's graveyard scene, Extinctions Vegas fight, Afterlife's Umbrella assault and Axeman fight... there are too many good ones to list completely. The latest entry, Retribution, features some seriously cool fights with some original weapons as well: Alice's sawn off shotguns that shoot coins, Rain's bullets that turn into mini grenades, Ada's "Get over here" gun (I literally said that as I saw it happen). The fight scenes are the highlight here, and while they aren't at all realistic or possible, they're so damn fun to watch. Milla Jovovich may just be the greatest action star of recent history: she handles herself exceptionally well on screen, nailing ever kick, jump and swing with remarkable accuracy. But then the supporting cast is equally good, even if they are back-benched somewhat in favour of the real star. The real highlight of the series so far is a sequence in Retribution 3D: Alice is caught in a corridor of light, chased by a dozen or so infected foes. Her weapons of choice are a handgun and chain with a padlock on the end. In short, she kicks ass by scoring headshots and swinging the chain in circles, even taking a zombie's throat OUT, causing chunks of meat to fly everywhere. This kind of hardcore, adult violence is something you don't get from a PG-13 (or M, here in Australia) release, and it's good to see something that doesn't try to crack the massive summer markets by dumbing itself down. Check out the corridor of light
here.