The Usual Suspects vs Retribution

I feel that we gained a lot of influences from The Usual Suspects which may be why I also feel that there are a lot of similarities in the plot and also the opening.

Below is the opening to The Usual Suspects:



Below is the opening to Retribution:

I feel that there are a number of similarities between Retribution and The Usual Suspects. Firstly both contain an aspect of mystery and slight confusion. In The Usual Suspects you do not know who the character who shoots the man on the boat is due to his face being obscured - this is similar to not knowing the man who enters the girls house in Retribution for the same reason. In both films you also follow the 'victim' of the scene and then the killer/villain enters the scene midway through - allowing you have time to build a certain allegiance with the character that you have been following.

Retribution though, has more establishing shots than The Usual Suspects, in my opinion, during the opening shots. Retribution has quite long shots with the car driving towards the screen, the long angle shots of the house and street also set the scene of suburbia. In The Usual Suspects you do not get this, you are straight into the middle of the scene with tight shots of the character and then it gradually moves out into slightly longer shots to allow the audience to see things which will be important later in the film. The Usual Suspects also isn't set in suburbia, the opening begins on a boat.

Retribution and The Usual Suspects share the fact that both delay any major action until later in the opening. Retribution has Zak entering the bathroom quite a while after Evie and the idea of Zak being in the house are introduced, however no physical contact (such as an attack) is shown which is different in The Usual Suspects in that the character which we follow (the man with the matches) gets shot in the opening. Yet The Usual Suspects follows this same idea of delaying the action until the end in order to allow the audience to get accustomed to the set up of the scene and for them to form even a basic allegiance with a character.

Plot wise I feel that the films are relatively similar in that they both contain 'gangster' and police aspects. Both also contain a fear factor/drive - in The Usual Suspects they are frightened of Keyser Soze who they are working for and in Retribution, Trent is driven to following Zak's demands due to his fear of losing his daughter. Both stories contain a twist at the end as well. Both beginnings don't really give much of the plot away either, it is only later on in the film that their relevance will become apparent so I feel that both have good audience engaging qualities which will keep the audience interested and wanting to gain answers to the questions which have been raised from the openings.