Review of Overlord (2018) by Pirante — 21 Nov 2018

I came into the movie with zero expectations - I'd saw one trailer lasting for about 60 seconds and nothing else. I would recommend you do the same as you will simply enjoy it more. Let's focus on the key elements here:

The story.

This is far-fetched, daft, predictable (they win in the end) but ultimately satisfying because it contains just enough realistic elements, and serious moments, to pull it along. The whole premise of finding a hidden Nazi base in which human experimentation plays into the very real, very gruesome stories from WWII and uses those historical facts to weave together a story that is, whilst clearly ridiculous, real enough for what it wishes to achieve. Overall, the story is good enough and never too outrageous as to make it feel absurd (though there are absurd moments).

The Acting.

I thought the characterisations were done very, very well with few, if any, poor performers. The lead protagonist was well conceived and believable. The romantic interest excellent as the movie eschewed the typical romantic-lead archetypes instead portraying a character who, though she may develop some affinity with the lead, has simply too much else to deal with for anything to actually occur in a romantic sense. This realistic portrayal of their dynamic really contributed positively to the story and the movie as a whole. The supporting cast are well realised and fairly memorable except for the guy rescued initially from the Nazi torture lab - I actually couldn't remember who he was before that point and, afterwards, he is by far the most forgettable character - I feel the guy (whose name I forget early on) who was writing a book documenting the war would have been a better person to keep around and have as support. The antagonist is suitably evil though very stereotypically Nazi (as are pretty much all of the Nazi's - mindless, heartless, pure evil as it were) - I long for the day that a movie depicts the Nazi's as actual humans doing bad things rather than some sort of inhuman evil. This is a minor gripe though and, in a movie of this nature, perhaps a little too much to expect.

Set pieces.

There are a number of pivotal moments and action sequences in this movie and they are widely different in terms of their success and impact. The opening 15 minutes or so - from the plane to the French girls house - are captured excellently and honestly wouldn't look much out of place in a bona fide war movie. I guess this is the intention with the 'horror' that comes meant to surprise - again this movie would be best enjoyed knowing nothing! The sequence with the captured Nazi captain in the loft is full of suspense and intrigue but, in terms of realism, is obviously let down by all of the god damn noise they make. The first glimpse into the Nazi experimentation site is tense and exciting though it is somewhat miraculous that our protagonist finds a way out (the busted sewage grate a lazy, overused trope in this instance). The second instance, involving a full scale attack on the camp with the aim of destroying everything, is again a little ridiculous (2 vs 40+ at one point?) but certainly passable. The sequence with the French woman being chased by the derranged half zombie thing is very good, tense, with a genuinely horrific inhuman 'thing' adding to the suspense. The final main action sequence, involving the hard ass commander and the main Nazi captain was, for me, somewhat anti-climactic. I understand that there was a necessity to wrap up the story, and that the only conceivable way was to destroy everything, but the fight sequence was very formulaic and predictable which did not really fit with the rest of the movie which, for the most part, approached the whole genre, and it's own individual scenes and moments, in an original fashion. Some may be left feeling deflated with the finale but I think the overall drive of the movie more than compensates for that. The dialogue.

This is decent without ever rising above that. There are some good moments - the allied captains interactions with the Nazi commander are a personal highlight - and the palpable chemistry between the protagonist and the French woman is maintained well without ever being overstated. The loud mouth American is a tad annoying though and his dialogue frequently deviants to the corny which is a shame as, with better dialogue, he would've been a much stronger addition to the ensemble. Conclusion.

I'm running of out character limit here but overall I enjoyed the movie, thought the acting performances on the whole were excellent, thought the story was presented in quite a unique way and this added to the enjoyment and quality. It is not perfect and you will, of course, have to suspend belief to enjoy this. On the whole, when compared with a lot of other movies of a similar ilk, I found this refreshing and well worth a watch. I would've given it an 8 had the final set piece been better.