Overlord

Starring: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier, Pilou Asbæk, John Magaro, Iain de Caestecker

Director: Julius Avery

I spent a lot of time thinking this was going to be a Cloverfield movie, even calling it “Cloverlord”. Well, it’s not. So what exactly is Overlord?

We open as a squad of American troops are being air dropped behind enemy lines. Among them are the nervous and out of place Boyce (Jovan Adepo), the wise cracking Tibet (John Magaro) and the tough as nails Ford (Wyatt Russell). Their plane is shot down and they are the only survivors. They begin their search for their target, a French town that has a German occupied tower that needs to be taken down so American Forces can begin an invasion. They stumble across Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier) who leads them to the village as well as gives the soldiers shelter. The soldiers soon realize something is off about the town and the Nazis could be conducting secret experiments in their underground labs.

This is a very entertaining movie that starts with a thrilling and intense sequence involving the main character’s plane being shot down. While nothing that follows necessarily matches the scale, the action in the film is brutal and quite jarring. Nazis get blown away left and right, in mostly gruesome fashion. The gore looks practical and is quite terrifying. The premise also feels weirdly plausible due to Hitler’s obsession with the occult and the belief he was running secret experiments. Once all is revealed you’re either on board or not.

While there are no big names attached, the acting is very strong for this type of film. Jovan Adepo and Wyatt Russell, while embodying well trod archetypes, keep the film grounded and display a wide range of emotions. Even Mathilde Ollivier isn’t given a thankless role and is much more capable than the soldiers give her credit for.

The plot does get a little silly though, and it became a little hard to not laugh at the ludicrous plot turns that happen in the third act. Where the script takes the villain, Wafner, played by Pilou Asbæk, is especially over the top. There’s also an unpleasant scene with his character that feels included to solidify that he is the bad guy. It was already known so the scene was unnecessary.

It feels like the writers played a ton of Castle Wolfenstein and decided to write a movie about it. That being said, I feel like they could have played up the horror aspects a little more. The situations are horrific but die hard horror fans might be a little disappointed by lack of jump scares.

In the end, the movie is entertaining and if you turn your brain off and enjoy the ride, it will be a successful trip to the movies.

B