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Posts Tagged ‘J.J. Abrams’

Blu-ray Review: Overlord

February 7, 2019 | by HC Green | Comments Comments Off on Blu-ray Review: Overlord
Overlord
Probably not a great idea.

Given the popularity of Activision’s Nazi zombies phenomenon it’s actually rather surprising that it has taken so long for something using a similar concept to make its way to theatres. That something is Overlord, and with J.J. Abrams behind the project there was plenty of reason for optimism despite a mostly unknown director (Julius Avery) and a distinct lack of household names in the cast. Was our optimism misplaced? Time to fire it up and find out.

THE PLOT

Less than 24 hours before D-Day, a squad of U.S. paratroopers is deployed with orders to take out a Nazi radio tower, thus allowing air support for the landing. However, their plane is hit by anti-air fire, scattering the few remaining survivors and leaving only a skeleton crew to carry out the mission: Boyce (Jovan Adepo; The Leftovers), Ford (Wyatt Russell; Everybody Wants Some!), Tibbet (John Magaro; Carol) and Chase (Iain De Caestecker; Agents of SHIELD).

Upon arriving in the French village, the crew encounter Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier), a local that grudgingly offers to aid them in their mission. While it quickly becomes clear that something is wrong in the town, the soldiers have no idea until Boyce gets separated looking for survivors and ends up below the church that houses the radio tower. There he discovers signs of monstrous experiments being conducted on the hapless villagers taken by the Nazis.

After the team captures a Nazi officer (Pilou Asbaek; Game of Thrones) and interrogates him for information, he breaks free and kills one of the American soldiers. Boyce, having grabbed a syringe from the lab, decides to inject his squadmate, shockingly bringing him back to life. With the stakes now raised, the makeshift group must overcome long odds and not only take out the tower, but the underground facility as well.

THE GOOD

For a largely anonymous cast, the principles deliver solid performances. At the top of the list is Adepo, who does a great job portraying a reluctant soldier that rises to the moment. His reactions to the insanity around him and ability to maintain his humanity help ground the film in real emotion even as things veer further and further into sci-fi. Character development is a definite strength here, and it actually makes you care about what happens to the soldiers.

We already knew Asbaek could play a menacing villain from his turn as Euron Greyjoy, and he delivers the goods once again as the Nazi officer. He’s sleazy when he’s leveraging his power over Chloe to extract unwanted sexual favours from her. He’s arrogant when he’s holding up to abuse in American hands. And finally he’s vindictive when the tables are turned. There’s no doubt he’ll get more roles like this in the future.

Beyond the performances, Overlord does an effective job of building suspense in the early going and then transitioning to some good action set pieces later on. The film is judicious with its green screen usage, keeping everything feeling gritty and real. Plus, when the time does come for CGI it’s really well done — the late sequence with Boyce trying to escape from an explosion looks completely legit, which is impressive.

THE BAD

We weren’t big fans of Paul, Chloe’s kid brother. His presence, which is essentially to raise the personal stakes, feels unnecessary, and we could’ve done without him. Overlord also fails to give Dr. Schmidt, the man behind all the horrible experimentation, much screen time and, as a result, personality. It feels like a wasted opportunity.

THE BONUS FEATURES

All of the extras are bundled under “The Horrors of War,” which contains numerous behind-the-scenes footage, cast and director interviews, and the usual “making of” fare. It’s slickly produced and informative, so if you enjoy those kinds of extras you’ll be well served here. There are no deleted scenes or anything of that nature, however.

OVERALL

Conceptually interesting and very well executed, Overlord gives you characters to care about, underhanded Nazis to root against and a strong mix of atmosphere and action.

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Blu-ray Review: Mission: Impossible 1-5 4K UHD

June 26, 2018 | by HC Green | Comments Comments Off on Blu-ray Review: Mission: Impossible 1-5 4K UHD
In a decision that clearly telegraphed the series’ shift toward action, legendary Hong Kong director John Woo was brought in to ramp up the stunts, the dual-wielding pistols and, of course, the doves. Now Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is essentially a superhero, overcoming odds through sheer force of ass whoopery.
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Blu-ray Review: Cloverfield/10 Cloverfield Lane 4K UHD

January 30, 2018 | by HC Green | Comments Comments Off on Blu-ray Review: Cloverfield/10 Cloverfield Lane 4K UHD
In the original Cloverfield an unknown monster emerges and lays siege to New York, all of which is filmed from a handheld camera — the idea being that the Department of Defence found it in the aftermath of the event. While it’s on the short list of best found-footage movies (alongside The Blair Witch Project and Chronicle) the nearly constant movement is tough to watch at times.
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Blu-ray Review: Star Trek Beyond

November 1, 2016 | by HC Green | Comments Comments Off on Blu-ray Review: Star Trek Beyond
Although the original series was heavy on exploration, the movie franchise has done a good job of throttling up the combat. That’s the case once again here, and the action sequences, whether on land or in space, are well choreographed and engaging. The initial encounter between the Enterprise and the pulsating mass of ships that comprise the enemy force is particularly impressive from a technical standpoint.
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Blu-ray Review: Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation

December 10, 2015 | by HC Green | Comments Comments Off on Blu-ray Review: Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation
Mixing action and humour have been a great strength of the last two films, and Rogue Nation manages to blend both elements successfully as well. There are some tremendous action sequences, made all the better by a reliance on actual stunt work rather than CGI, while both Cruise and Pegg provide just the right amount of laughs. In terms of the action, the motorcycle chase stands out along with the hand-to-hand combat during Cruise’s escape.
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