Director
Julius Avery
(SON OF A GUN)

Stars
Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbæk, Jovan Adepo, Mathilde Ollivier, John Magaro and Iain De Caestecker

The names headlining this feature film might be less familiar, but do not assume for even a second that OVERLORD isn’t in competent hands. This ambitiously scripted, tenacious and bloodthirsty R18+ war action/horror movie is produced by J. J. Abrams (who confirmed this is not an entry in the Cloverfield franchise) through his Bad Robot Productions banner. Writer Billy Ray (who contributed to writing THE HUNGER GAMES and CAPTAIN PHILLIPS) composes the story and screenplay for OVERLORD, and up-and-coming Australian filmmaker Julius Avery directs, whose next project is set to be a new feature-length adaptation of FLASH GORDON.

In 1944 during WWII, a small team of American soldiers led by Corporal Ford (Wyatt Russell) are on their way to Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day, when their plane is gunned down. Their assignment, which must continue, is to locate and destroy a German radio tower located inside an old church. The remaining survivors of the crash, including Private Ed Boyce (Jovan Adepo), Tibbet (John Magaro) and photographer Morton Chase (Iain De Caestecker), are about to discover an entirely different breed of horror that exists behind enemy lines.

If you were to read this film’s script or even seek out more details than I’m willing to disclose, OVERLORD would sound as ludicrous on paper as it sometimes is. The conception and first few layers of development are well thought-out, but beyond that it isn’t meticulously written and does reveal a few improbabilities and inconsistencies. Most of which involve Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier), a French-German civilian and Captain Wafner (Pilou Asbæk). All of this is being mentioned purely to soften and shape expectations before you head to a big screen and see OVERLORD, rather than to deter you from doing so. The highly effective meshing of graphic horror into its WWII setting, a high volume of high-octane action sequences, its sheer bloodiness and loudness are seriously attention-diverting enough to deafen these imperfections, for most part. What’s also noticeable is the fact that less CGI is used to create the special effects, which can lend OVERLORD a rather old-school horror movie feel that many will savour. Elements of its origin are completely abandoned once the horror component of its genre is in full swing. Though the setting does change somewhat and despite relishing this transition, OVERLORD could have found more completeness had these elements remained in the background throughout. Nevertheless, OVERLORD is always extremely committed to its craft and should have no difficulty attracting and securing its ideal demographic. Hopefully I help it to achieve just that.

3 ½ stars 

Viewer Discretion
R18+ (High impact violence)

Trailer
OVERLORD

Moviedoc thanks Paramount Pictures for the invite to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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