Movie Review: Overlord (2018)

Few movies manage to capture that sense of thrill, unpredictability, and a plot that sounds pretty straightforward and B-Movie like yet surprisingly comes out as one of the sleeper hits of 2018. That's Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Productions' "Overlord" in a nutshell - a War Horror film produced by seasoned director J.J Abrams and directed by Julius Avery that tells the story of a group of paratroopers that are dropped into Nazi territory the day before D-Day to take out enemy towers... Only to discover something more sinister is at work that could change the course of the war if unleashed.

Overlord Trailer

From the onset - Overlord looks like your typical World War II film with Germans conducting ihumane  experiments to turn their soldiers into superhuman weapons, but it becomes more involved and personal as the story runs its course. You follow the story of Pvt. Ed Boyce, his commander Corporal Ford, and a ragtag band of surviving American soldiers as they are dangerously airdropped in enemy lines to conduct an important sabotage mission. What follows is a lot of tension, collusion with an unexpected ally, and a lot of dread that could make for a nice shooter and stealth game. I've compared much of the movie to the classic iD Software game "Wolfenstein", and it shows with its action, pacing, and concepts that remind me of the Nazi shooter that sees all kinds of enemies and monstrosities out to kill you as you march to defeat Hitler and his soldiers.

Now the comparisons to Wolfenstein aside, Overlord makes for one heck of popcorn movie with its good share of gore, dirty comedy, and stuff you'd expect from Abrams' produced films. The protagonist Boyce played by Jovan Adepo is likeable and it's definitely Abrams giving another young actor his shot at stardom. Corporal Ford is played by former hockey player Wyatt Hawn Russell, and he's a pretty strong and awesome deuteroganist character too. The main baddie is Game Of Thrones' own Pilou Asbaek - who shows his demented and twisted side like Euron Greyjoy by playing the Nazi commander Captain Wafner. All these elements make for some good casual war horror movie fun in Overlord - with the Nazi zombie monstrosities giving standard gruesome fare that you root for the heroes to shoot and dispose of before they get killed grotesquely.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Overlord to fans of War films, Horror Movies, and those who want to see Abrams and his company succeed in yet another experiment that has potential to spin-off to other sequels. I definitely would like to see more of these movies and adding some monsters and horror fare like in the vein of Cloverfield is always welcome. Big thanks to UIP Philippines and Columbia Pictures Philippines for bringing this movie to our shores! The film is now playing in cinemas around  the Philippines.

Rating - 4/5