Overlord is over the top with blood, gore, Nazis and zombies. If you’re into period sci-fi and like watching people in pain, this is for you. It’s like watching a video game with precision timing, tons of tension and lots of action. It’s been compared to Call of Duty Zombies with a little Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom thrown in, but there are parts (no pun intended) thrown in from other Nazi Zombie movies and video games.
American paratroopers are blown out of the sky and set on a mission to go behind enemy lines in Nazi occupied France. They must bring down a church tower and destroy a transmitter so Nazis won’t know what the US is up to right before D Day.
J.J. Abrams’ influence is felt as Executive Producer, and so is the tone set by director Julius Avery (Son of a Gun) and Writer Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) and Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Captain Phillips). The lead actors of the movie signed on even before reading the script because they wanted to work with these filmmakers.
Wyatt Russell plays Ford, one tough son-of-a-gun soldier with hate in his eyes. He’s got his own agenda and not happy about bringing a bunch of rookies on this mission. Russell plays the bad ass leader who has no time for being anyone’s buddy. He’s supposed to be the reluctant hero who is constantly in sneer mode which he does very well. This may be his stepping stone to bigger, more meaty roles.
Jovan Adepo (Fences, TV’s The Leftovers) is earnest as African-American soldier Boyce who is beyond scared from the get go. His leap from the burning plane with the twisted parachute into the water is well shot, but you always knew he would make it. He’s the somewhat sane character who keeps getting in and out of trouble with just seconds to spare trying to help the villagers.
John Magaro (The Big Short, Marshall, Jack Ryan) plays Tibbett. He’s from the New York, or maybe Jersey, with an accent so pronounced, it sounds like he came out of a Guys and Dolls movie. He’s a real character but given a tender moment reluctantly warming up to a little French boy who likes baseball.
Iain De Caestecker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) plays Chase, a war correspondent embedded with the soldiers. He’s more meek and laid back until a monstrous change later in the film.
They try to help protect a French villager named Chloe played by French actress Mathilde Ollivier (Valeria, The Misfortunes of François Jane) and her 8-year-old-brother. Chloe’s trying to escape being taken advantage of by the nasty Nazi commander, Wafner, played by Pilou Asbaek. He portrays one sleazy, scary Nazi. Chloe becomes his target and the Americans do what they can to keep him away from her and her little brother.
Asbaek has a big part. He and Ford go at it in a brutal battle that leaves both bathed in blood and disfigured. You’ll groan at how gruesome that scene is. But the special effects are effective and very creative. There’s no end to what tools they use to fight each other. Talk about getting hooked!
This is a huge game of hide and seek watching the good guys chase and run away from the bad guys with mega explosions, flame throwers, secret tunnels, and deadly injections of experimental drugs, all of which help turn the townspeople into walking weapons. The ones who don’t make it are seen in a horrifying scene being burnt to a crisp in a mass grave by the Nazis.
The good guys get taken down on a regular basis, but somehow keep coming up with the ammo they need to fight off the Zombie Nazis who become mangled as they die, then miraculously come back stronger and more disgusting looking than ever. No one goes down for the count for long. And, of course, there’s a mad scientist always ready to inject someone with the lethal potion to turn more French villagers into an army of Zombies.
Some people eat this stuff up. The special effects of the explosions and the timing of the good and bad guys chases are well edited and very visual. But violence for violence sake can get pretty repetitive and boring. It’s one way to spend 2 hours, but we think Overlord is a bit overdone.
Paramount 1 hour 49 minutes R
