On the eve of D-Day, paratroopers drop behind enemy lines to carry out a crucial mission for the invasion. As they approach their target, they soon begin to realize there’s more going on in the Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation.
For those that don’t know, “Overlord” was originally supposed to be a new “Cloverfield” movie. However, this idea was scrapped and they just made it their own thing instead. This return to simplicity is a brilliant choice. We follow a group of American soldiers in their mission to destroy a control tower in France when things start to get strange and continue to get progressively more strange throughout the film. With there only being one bizarre thing that you have to believe, honestly, in reality, it’s not too hard to believe either. It makes for a pretty fun watch.
There is not much going on in the character department, you get your clichéd stereotypes for a traditional war film, with everything pretty much wrapped up in a nice little bow at the end. There is also a somewhat implied potential romance between two of the main characters. Luckily, there is nothing acted upon with it. It sadly would have made the female character appear weaker than she carried herself to be given the context of the story.
There are other side plots that don’t really have much to do with the movie other than just to pander to audiences. It is a shame because this story is pretty decent, aside from it being a tad bit formulaic. With there being some great set pieces too, there’s too much happening that shouldn’t be. The film could have easily have passed without all of this fluff for the sake of runtime.
If you enjoy action war films, this is for you. It has horror elements as well so if you’re enticed by this, I think you will have fun. If you can’t see “Overlord” for the fun time it is, then it is not for you. To put it simply, this is a popcorn flick, despite there being set pieces of good size, I don’t think seeing this in a theater is too important. Just wait to watch it at home.
Overlord recently premiered at Fantastic Fest and will hit theaters Nov. 9th
