Overlord (2018) - J.J. Abrams-produced WW2 zombie flick

[Gaith]

I didn't do an exhaustive search, but I couldn't find a single mention of this movie anywhere on the BBS. Anyhow, it's now streaming for US Amazon Prime members, so I gave it a spin.

Overlord (2018)

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I'm all for grindhouse WWIIsploitation flicks, and Overlord is indeed pleasingly gory. Trouble is, if you've seen the preview, there's not much reason to watch the movie proper - it's Band of Brothers' second episode ("Day of Days") plus three or four zombies, and over twice the run time. Even if one doesn't mind the anachronistically color-blind characters (even the SS guy doesn't seem to notice the protagonist's skin tone), the rote script has plenty of stupid - I'm pretty sure there weren't any photographers parachuting into France the night before D-Day, I am sure the paratroopers didn't take off in daylight, a woman outruns a motorcycle to a comical extent, baseball gloves were pretty much unheard of in France at the time, there's some nonsense about how the whole dang invasion is doomed if one radio tower isn't destroyed, and what educated European hasn't heard of Louisiana?!

Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) gets unstuck in time battling monsters again.
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It's too schlocky to take seriously, but too small-scale, slow, and long to be a popcorn classic. As game as I'd be for a totally gonzo, fast-paced OTT genre WW2 horror movie, with not only fast zombies but huge spiders and other beasties, multiple battles in different settings, and more, this isn't quite that. To be honest, with no stars in the cast (Kurt Russell's son doesn't count), I'm not really sure where half the $40m budget went, unless shooting in Britain is really that pricey. The D-Day hook, meanwhile, feels more like an attempt to tie the story to Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan and thus appeal to American audiences, rather than any kind of thematic necessity. Since the producers went out of their way to hire two black actors as soldiers in a historically segregated campaign, why not make like Miracle at St. Anna, have the whole squad be black, and set it somewhere else? That would've been more interesting. I guess it gets a point for being the first WW2 movie I've seen to play rap over its credits, though.

Grade: B-

 

[The Wormhole]

I saw it when it was in theatres. Wasn't really impressed, and I don't remember much about it now.

 

[John Clark]

Saw it at the cinema. I liked it, but not enough to pick it up on home media yet.

 

[valkyrie013]

seen it.. A Mount Rushmore sized pile o crap.. And not in a so bad its good.. Its bad.. Watch at ur own pereal