About a few weeks after Netflix released “The Cloverfield Paradox,” many fans were curious as to what the next film in the Cloverfield series would be. Most people immediately jumped onto a mysterious project that Bad Robot (J.J. Abrams’ production company behind all of the Cloverfield films) was creating that looked completely different from the previous installments. Rumors began to fly that this new Bad Robot production would be the fourth film in the Cloverfield series. Most fans immediately rejoiced, taking the company’s silence on the matter as an almost absolute confirmation that they would be getting two Cloverfield films in one year. In reality, that wasn’t the case.
Before the summer movie season began, Paramount and Bad Robot debunked the rumors, telling news sources that the mysterious project was not connected to the Cloverfield films in anyway. In fact, it’s an action horror film that has nothing to do with any of Bad Robot’s other properties, becoming the studio’s first R-rated film ever produced. That film officially became known as “Overlord” and ever since the release of the film’s official trailer in July, I’ve seen the trailer almost every single time I’ve seen a film in theaters from that month forward. It’s gotten to the point where I’m just glad to finally see the film and say that while the film has its problems, it definitely keeps a lot of the energy and fun that the trailer was heavily promoting. It is a film that has very little to hide and apologize for.
The film’s premise takes place a day before D-Day. A paratrooper squad is tasked with one goal: take out a radio tower that has been embedded into an old church in a small French village. If they are able to do it by 6am, they will have prevented German forces from disrupting the Allied forces’ D-Day plans. However, as they are flying in, their plane is destroyed in mid-air, killing almost everyone on the plane except for a small group of soldiers. The surviving soldiers end up being Boyce (Jovan Adepo), Ford (Wyatt Russell), Tibbet (John Magaro), and Chase (Iain De Caestecker). After they meet a French local (Mathilde Ollivier), their mission takes a turn for the worse when Boyce discovers that the enemy forces inside the church are working on experiments that, if perfected, would make the Nazi regime even more terrifying than they already are.
The film’s plot is as straightforward and as simple as the trailer makes it out to be. While there might be a surprising moment or two, the film is unapologetically an action horror film about American soldiers going up against Nazis and their undead super soldiers. The best way to describe the film’s tone is tongue-in-cheek but not to the point where they don’t attempt serious/emotional moments at times. It’s a B-movie plot with a decent budget, leading to moments and set pieces that feel better produced than the material really deserves. While that might be a downside to other films, this film’s self-aware, violent tone is executed well enough that it is more endearing and enjoyable than embarrassing.
I think a lot of that has to do with the film’s ensemble. Despite being given very little plot and very little for their characters, the cast does a great job with what they’re given. Adepo is the perfect wide-eyed protagonist for this bloody story, Russell continues to impress as he sells the tough Ford incredibly well, Magaro and Caestecker handle their roles perfectly without becoming cliche caricatures, and the list goes on. Even the actor portraying the head Nazi antagonist (Pilou Asbæk as Wafner) is doing more than he needs to, giving his evil character a more sadistic edge to the point where you can tell he loves playing the bad guy. In retrospect, I appreciated the effort each actor and actress put into their performances because they made their thin characters that much more enjoyable to watch as they uncovered more of the evil brewing under the church.
Speaking of enjoyable, the action is very satisfying to watch. While the opening’s airborne action felt a little too fake due to the CGI, the film got better as it progressed. The sound design of the weapons were exaggerated but satisfying, the practical sets were used perfectly when it came to the action that called for total destruction, the directing and editing worked well, and every death (especially the ones involving Nazis) was satisfying. The action, however, peaks at the third act, leading to a bombastic finale that is filled with explosions, gruesome moments, satisfying set pieces, and Nazi monster soldiers that make up for the film’s lack of Nazi monster soldiers in the previous two acts. They don’t make up for the film’s other problems but, personally, I have little to complain about when a film serves me up action involving undead Nazi super soldiers on a platter as boldly as “Overlord” does.
Unfortunately, despite the film’s bombastic third act, its problems are still very noticeable. While the practical effects are great, the CGI in the film can really be hit or miss depending on the scene (That being said, it did seem to get better as the film went on). The film’s plot is also fairly flawed, dishing up a narrative that is about as cliche and unremarkable as a story about a secret base of undead Nazi super soldiers can be. That also goes for the development given to the main characters which is surface level stuff that does enough to get you to like the characters but not enough to be emotionally rocked if one of them died. These problems aren’t huge but are just frequent and numerous enough to bring the film down.
In the end, if you were sold on the premise “Overlord” was putting out, you’ll get enough out of a theater viewing. Only if it’s a matinee viewing though because while I enjoyed the great cast, the film’s tone, and the satisfying action, there are enough problems in the film that it might be disappointing if you go in expecting something great. It’s a B-movie that defends its existence by just rocking the premise enough to be fun and fairly memorable. It won’t be your favorite monster movie nor will it even be close to your favorite World War 2 film. That being said though, enjoy it for what it is because I prefer a really good, original film about Nazi monsters over one forced into the Cloverfield universe any day.