Last week I took advantage of AMC Theaters' $5 movie night and went to see JJ Abrams' Overlord. In case you have not read my multiple posts on The Cloverfield Universe... I am a bit of a fanatic. When news of Overlord first surfaced, it was believed to be the 4th installment set in the Cloverfield Universe (or 5th if you include Super 8 like I do).
At first, all we knew was that Overlord would be a new Cloverfield movie set in France on D-Day and would involve Nazi Zombies. I was in!
Then news leaked that it would not be a Cloverfield movie. But there were still Nazi zombies so I was still in (although without an exclamation point).
Because I refuse to believe JJ Abrams when he talks about his films (he still claims Super 8 is not a Cloverfield movie) I entered the theater prepared to find every Easter egg that could possibly tie Overlord to the Cloverfield Universe.
Sadly, there were none. As a result, there wasn't quite enough to cause me to recommend my friends see this in a theater. It would make for a fine straight to Netflix movie, but it is not meaty enough for me to encourage anyone spend significant time or money on this movie.
Sadly there was no Slusho in Overlord... or was there? (Please see the end of this post for a very huge stretch.)
Don't get me wrong, it is not a waste of either time or money. But for me, I simply don't have time to see movies that don't include my kids, unless they are truly special. Overlord was not.
Overlord tells the story of U.S. Paratroopers who must knock out a key German communication installation in order for the Allied Force to have the proper air support during the D-Day invasions. The fact that they had less than 24 hours to complete their mission added some tension to the movie. Unfortunately the installation also happens to house a Zombie making lab... of course it does.
It seems like the creative team could not decide if this were a WWII movie or a Zombie movie. As a result, neither piece of the movie had enough flesh on its bones to sustain me (or the other few audience members).
As far as the WWII mission aspect, it was cool and had some decent battle scenes. The characters were likable and their mission made sense. The actors all did a fine job. It would have made for a great 45 minute episode of Band of Brothers.
I am not a horror movie fan at all. As a result, I tend to avoid them. I make an exception if I think the movie will be an incredibly original conversation starter. Overlord was not. Luckily for me, it was not scary... at all. Although I am the biggest scaredy cat in the world, I did not get scared one single time. The Zombie part was nothing I hadn't seen before. There actually were not even that many Zombies in the movie. I was expecting a huge epic battle between a platoon of WWII soldiers and a village of Zombies. Instead it is more like a "boss battle" in a video game. There were a couple of small human vs Zombie battles that lead up to the huge final battle with a supercharged Nazi Zombie. The Zombie part would have made for a good 45 minute, ultra-violent, Twilight Zone episode.
Sadly, when you put two 45 minute television programs together, it does not make for a great movie.
If you have the time and money to spend on watching a Netflix quality movie on the big screen, then there are worse ways to do either. The fact that I only paid $5 really helped. I'm not cheap, but I do like to get value for my money. If I had paid $15 to see this in a Dolby Theater, I think I would have been quite disappointed.
If you don't want to spend the time or money in that way, just wait for the DVD or Netflix. Luckily, for you, thanks to the fact that it is flopping at the box office, you won't have to wait very long.
Minor spoiler alert
If you are obsessed with the Cloververse and you desperately want this movie to be connected, is it possible that the substance that is being used to create Zombies is the same nectar that is the secret ingredient in Slusho!?