Solo Trailer Review: Resident Evil: Retribution

Name of Film: Resident Evil: Retribution

Year Released: 2012

Genre of Trailer: Action Horror

My Mark (After Viewing): 7/10

What happened in the trailer?

It starts off with what seems to be a ‘normal’ family morning until a zombies attack. The mother, the protagonist, and daughter run outside only for a computerised voice to repeatedly say “None of this is real” overhead. The mother then wakes up inside a facility run by a corporation that has been experimenting on her. Aided by another woman, the protagonist fights zombies and other human beings as she attempts to escape the facility, while the main antagonist boasts that the corporation has taken over several capital cities and that she will need ‘good luck’ to kill him. The trailer ends as the music builds up to the close and the protagonist throws a pick-axe at the screen.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?

-          The misleading opening is a clever twist as it tricks the viewer into thinking the plot is going one way, before shooting off into another. The initial happy family start would start viewers thinking that the trailer was a romance or a comedy, then the zombie attack would make them think it was a simple horror. However, when the protagonist ‘wakes up’ the plot delves deeper into a sci-fi realm, twisting the audiences preconceptions onto their heads.

-          The pacing of the trailer is built simply and solidly. It starts off slow, speeds up for a short section, slows down again and then speeds up. This allows the audience to easily grasp the film in terms of tension and suspence.

-          The narrative is very easy to follow in the trailer; there is an enemy the protagonist needs to defeat in order to escape, she has allies and so does her enemy. There is no room for confusion.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?

-          There are no real jump scares, either during or at the end of the trailer. Instead the horror is meant to come from the onslaught of zombies, but they do not generate any real fear in the viewer. Niether is there any real gore, which is the other branch of horror for zombie films. With a lack of both gore and jump scares, this trailer is not very scary.

Why did it receive that mark?

I gave this trailer a 7 as it was a fast-paced an easy to follow trailer with an interesting narrative. However, nothing really jumped out in this trailer, leaving an adequate but not totally satisfying result.