Review of Outlander (2008) by Bence L — 28 Jun 2011

For me this kind of came out of nowhere and I was expecting it to be terrible and cheap. Well, turned out that I was absolutely wrong, as it was actually pretty awesome if you can just not put too much attention on the actors and the story.

The first few minutes summarize quite well what this is going to be about. Cool special effects and James Caviezel looking awkward. But really, if this movie has one major flaw, it's the leads. No problems with the supporting actors, but Caviezel is a total miscast and just terrible for this movie. The script doesn't really give him anything to work with either, on the other hand he looks downright idiotic when he's fighting. Especially the fancy stances with the sword... horrible. This character, the highly skilled, silent warrior from a distant planet is something Vin Diesel can pull, but not Jesus. Teaming up with face- and hand model Jack Huston playing a big bad viking here, they instantly nominate for the MTV best gay couple award (major uncalled-for downer scene regarding the subject has not been avoided). If you have problems getting over these things, leave them wave around with their pretty little swords alone as you'll get p*ssed rather fast and the movie is almost 2 hours long spending a lot of time senselessly developing these characters relation.

Now on the other hand, the creature here is plain fantastic and beautifully animated as all the CGI. And we get a lot of creature scenes and CGI and if anything, in terms of action, the movie delivers frequently and generously, handing out tons and tons of quality creature fun, blood and really cool gore. The sets, the costumes, the requisites and pretty much everything looks great, there is really no space for complaints regarding the production value which is generally very high.

And that's it. The well spent budget, the awesome Moorwen creature and a touch of originality even make this b-movie stand out.

If you're into Sci-Fi action movies or creatures, do not hesitate.