While watching this new trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution for the first time I switched to another tab in my browser as I genuinely thought I was watching a pre-video advertisement and was waiting it out. Patrick Stewart has done quite a few ad voice-overs so I assumed he’d done another, and he has, but this time it’s a fake Sony ad played before the action and Tron: Legacy soundtrack kick in.

Watch the trailer below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

Resident Evil: Retribution will be released on September 14, and stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Kevin Durand, Shawn Roberts, Colin Salmon, Johann Urb, Boris Kodjoe and Li Bingbing.

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There have been many film adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ classic 1844 novel, but this steampunk-inspired version of The Three Musketeers from the director of Mortal Kombat and Alien vs. Predator looked so purposefully terrible that I just had to see it. Much to my surprise, it turns out that the first half of the movie is totally competent (and even fun!), and it’s not until the latter half when things go off the rails and drag this film down into the realm of the mediocre.

I won’t try to convince you that this is a great movie. But it is a lot better than it has any right to be, and that’s mostly due to the fact that this story, at its heart, is so much fun. There’s heroism, deception, loyalty, betrayal, romance, swordplay – so many classic elements that it’d be hard to completely destroy the inherent awesomeness of this adventure. The screenplay is laced with humor, and for the most part, the actors make it work. (There’s an additional character tossed in for “comedic relief” that was totally unnecessary, but that’s to be expected from almost any studio film like this.)

Another reason this movie is better than it should be is some fantastic casting. Say what you will about the rest of this movie, but the casting director knocked this one out of the park. Logan Lerman is excellent as the cocksure D’Artagnan, turning out my favorite performance of his career. Matthew Macfayden plays the jilted Athos with style, leading the group with a straight face through the film’s wildly anachronistic twists and turns. Up-and-comer Luke Evans (who should be a household name in a few years with upcoming roles in big time projects like The Hobbit) brings just the right level of gravitas to the role of Aramis, something that Charlie Sheen failed to do in my definitive film version of this classic tale, the 1993 Disney film of the same name. Ray Stevenson is the best fit of everyone in the cast for his character, the surly and comedic Porthos. He’s brash, charming, and easily the most entertaining of the heroes.

Perhaps the biggest casting coup was snagging such big names for the villainous roles. Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz doesn’t quite match Tim Curry’s over-the-top sliminess from the ’93 version, but brings his own level of quiet menace to the role of Cardinal Richelieu. Orlando Bloom’s ridiculous haircut makes more of an impression than the actor himself in this movie, but he’s still fun to watch as the dapper and deceptive Duke of Buckingham. Mads Mikkelsen is perfect as the evil Captain Rochefort, and even Milla Jovovich (wife of this film’s director) is sufficiently seductive and well-equipped to handle the action elements of her role as Milady de Winter, the double-crossing assassin and Athos’s former love interest.

I was actually shocked at how much I liked the first half of this movie. The sword fight sequences are spectacularly choreographed, and at no point does it ever feel like a bunch of loosely trained actors swinging fake swords around. Paul W.S. Anderson’s direction is surprisingly confident and precise, and the editing is simple and effective. The geography of the action is well established at all times, and avoids the shaky cam trend of the past decade. Even the sets are beautiful, and Sony should take a good look at these for its upcoming film adaptation of the Assassin’s Creed video game. It’s only when the movie starts really concentrating on the steampunk elements, introducing giant airships based on stolen designs from Leonardo da Vinci – ahem, Hudson Hawk - that it starts to lose its luster. Because of how solid the first half of the movie was, this part of the film feels like studio intervention (“give us something that looks COOL!”). If they had avoided the ridiculous aspects altogether, this could have been a truly great interpretation of this story.

Despite the dreary second half, I actually liked this movie overall. It’s far better than the “so bad, it’s good” I’d initially hoped for, and if you can sit back and have fun with the spectacle of it, you’re sure to be entertained. I saw it in 3D, which provided some highlights during map transitions between countries and during the Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired airship battles, but ultimately 3D isn’t a necessity for The Three Musketeers. If nothing else, this movie has stopped my knee-jerk reaction to immediately write off Paul W.S. Anderson movies as unwatchable. This is perfect lazy afternoon home video entertainment. Until next time…

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Actress Milla Jovovich took to her Twitter account today to express her frustration about the apparent lack of promotion The Three Musketeers has recieved from Summit Entertainment. The movie hits today in the US but is expected to make half the amount of Paranormal Activity 3 this weekend, and Jovovich thinks Summit is to blame.

Here’s what she had to say to her 825,000 followers: (excuse the spelling, it’s hard to rant with a 140 character limit)

Also, “3 musketeers” opens in the US 2night! Do you think ppl know abt the movie? Ask your friends! Do they know it’s a fun family film?

Are “summit” promoting it as a family adventure movie? Or are they resting on their laurels from “twilight” n making no effort? Let me know!

I think “summit” hve swept “3 Musketeers”, a grt family adventure film, under the rug in the US. Shame on them. SHAME ON YOU “SUMMIT”.

Basically, Jovovich thinks Summit isn’t giving The Three Musketeers the marketing push it deserves because they’re releasing The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 in less than a month and are going to be flooded with money anyway. While a valid concern, a closer inspection reveals the movie, directed by her husband Paul W.S. Anderson, is getting pretty shoddy reviews (currently 24% on Rotten Tomatoes) so perhaps Summit don’t want to spend marketing money on a bad movie?

The Three Musketeers has earned $50m worldwide so far, but with a budget said to be around $80m it still has a long way to go before it’s considered a financial success (with the decline in DVD sales movies generally have to make double the budget at the box office to be worthwhile). It certainly isn’t a critical success, regardless of how Summit Entertainment is marketing it.

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It seems that the Resident Evil series is paying a little visit back to its roots. According to Bloody-Disgusting, Michelle Rodriguez will be returning as Rain Ocampo for Resident Evil: Retribution, as well as Shawn Roberts reprising his role of villain Albert Wesker, a fan-favorite.

Now those of you who have faithfully followed the entire series know that it’s a little strange for Rodriguez to return, considering was zombified and killed in the first Resident Evil film. But considering that Resident Evil: Retribution is planning to bring everything full circle, her role will most likely be a flashback, along with Colin Salmon once again playing the leader of the commandos in the first film, James “One” Shade.

Quick synopsis of Resident Evil: Retribution below:

Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct Retribution which picks up right where Afterlife left off. K-Mart (Spencer Locke), Claire (Ali Larter) and brother Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) are captured by the Umbrella Corporation while the heroes must battle the Las Plagas variant of the infected, meaning the mindless zombies are replaced by stronger, scarier monsters. Sienna Guillory returns to play Jill Valentine who will now be featured as the film’s primary villain.

The series has rapidly grown to a big name franchise among fans, with Resident Evil: Afterlife being the current most successful installment and the only one so far to have implemented a shot-in-3D gore-fest. One thing that also made that fourth film so successful among the fans is that they were pleased to see actual usage of the elements and characters from the video game series, and it seems that Resident Evil: Retribution will continue that legacy by finally adding franchise favorite Leon Scott Kennedy. No word on who will be playing him, but rumors point to Supernatural front-man Jensen Ackles.

It seems like the series has finally found out that giving the fans want they want, putting elements from the popular gaming franchise onto the silver screen, is the way to box office happiness. After all, isn’t that a movie based on a video game should be all about?

Resident Evil: Retribution is set to release on September 14, 2012

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Summit Entertainment has released the second official trailer for The Three Musketeers. The movie stars Matthew Macfadyen (Frost/Nixon) as Athos, Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) as D’Artagnan, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) as Porthos, and Luke Evans (Tamara Drewe) as Aramis. Christoph Waltz, Milla Jovovich, Mads Mikkelsen, and Orlando Bloom also appear as villains.

Watch below:

I’m not expecting much, but it looks like it might be fun (if you ignore the inevitably bad dialogue). It has a Pirates of the Caribbean-type vibe to it, which Summit may have been aiming for. Swashbuckling sells

Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil: Afterlife) is directing in 3D, and the movie follows the hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Lerman) who joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (MacFadyen, Evans and Stevenson). They must stop the evil Richlieu (Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Bloom) and the treacherous M’lady De Winter (Jovovich).

The Three Musketeers will be released October 14.

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Summit Entertainment has released the first trailer for The Three Musketeers. The movie stars Matthew Macfadyen (Frost/Nixon) as Athos, Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) as D’Artagnan, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) as Porthos, and Luke Evans (Tamara Drewe) as Aramis. Christoph Waltz, Milla Jovovich, Mads Mikkelsen, and Orlando Bloom also appear as villains.

Watch below:

It has a Pirates of the Caribbean-type vibe to it, which Summit may have been aiming for. I’m sure they’d happily launch a new franchise to keep them in business post-Twilight.

Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil: Afterlife) is directing in 3D, and the movie follows the hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Lerman) who joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (MacFadyen, Evans and Stevenson). They must stop the evil Richlieu (Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Bloom) and the treacherous M’lady De Winter (Jovovich).

The Three Musketeers will be released October 14.

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Resident Evil: Afterlife made $296 million worldwide last September (thanks to 3D), making it the highest grossing film of the franchise. Mere days after its release Milla Jovovich said there were already plans for a 5th film and director Paul W.S. Anderson, her husband, already had some ideas.

Now according to @ERCboxoffice Screen Gems has set the Resident Evil 5 release date for September 14th, 2012.

Last year Jovovich said “we’ve been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it’s probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see. It’s going to be a more interactive process.”

If you feel like the past four film have been missing something you want to see, feel free to bombard Jovovich with your requests here.

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Summit Entertainment has released the first official image from The Three Musketeers.

In the image we see (from left to right) Matthew Macfadyen (Frost/Nixon) as Athos, Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) as D’Artagnan, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) as Porthos, and Luke Evans (Tamara Drewe) as Aramis. The movie also stars Christoph Waltz, Milla Jovovich, Mads Mikkelsen, and Orlando Bloom.

Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil: Afterlife) is directing in 3D, and the movie follows the hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Lerman) who joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (MacFadyen, Evans and Stevenson). They must stop the evil Richlieu (Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Bloom) and the treacherous M’lady De Winter (Jovovich).

The Three Musketeers was recently pushed back to October 14, 2011 but Summit will probably be releasing the first trailer soon.

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Sony has announced that they will be releasing Resident Evil: Afterlife on DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray on December 28th.

Despite negative reviews the movie was helped by 3D ticket prices and made $273 million worldwide, which is an all new high for the franchise (Resident Evil: Extinction made $150 million in 2007). Obviously a Resident Evil 5 is in the works so this won’t be the last time we see Milla Jovovich running around with guns.

Check out the specifications below:

• BD Exclusive: PS3 Wallpaper Theme
• BD Exclusive: movieIQ™+sync and BD-Live
• BD Exclusive: Undead Vision: Picture-in-Picture
• BD Exclusive: Deleted & Extended Scenes
• BD Exclusive: Outtakes
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Back Under the Umbrella: Directing Afterlife
• Band of Survivors: Casting Afterlife
• Undead Dimension: Resident Evil in 3D
• Fighting Back: The Action of Afterlife
• Vision of the Apocalypse: The Design of Afterlife
• New Blood: The Undead of Afterlife
• Pwning the Undead: Gamers of the Afterlife

Resident Evil: Afterlife is now available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray.

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Negative reviews aside, Resident Evil: Afterlife will open at the #1 spot this weekend with around $28 million (+ $45 million internationally) which is great for a budget of $60 million. Thanks to 3D ticket prices it will probably end up as the highest grossing film of the franchise.

When a franchise continues to provide the goods the makers will be more than happy to continue it, and Milla Jovovich recently revealed that is the intention.

From Vulture:

“This new Resident Evil is the first one to ever open at number one worldwide. It’s the biggest movie in the franchise,” she told us, “So we’re definitely going to make another one,” she said, adding that director Paul W.S. Anderson, her husband, already has some ideas for the fifth Resident Evil installment, and this time he wants the audiences’ ideas, too. “We’ve been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it’s probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see. It’s going to be a more interactive process.”

You can bombard Jovovich with your requests here.

Did you see Resident Evil: Afterlife this weekend? Where do you think they could go with the 5th film?

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