Overlord Movie Review

Overlord (2018)

Rent Overlord on Amazon Video
Written by: Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith (screenplay by), Billy Ray (story by)
Directed by: Julius Avery
Starring: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier,  John Magaro, Gianny Taufer, Pilou Asbæk, Bokeem Woodbine
Rated: R
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Plot
A small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day in 1944.

Verdict
This has a great premise, World War II and zombies, but it takes a bit too long to get into the action. The last third is what I wanted. It's over the top gore and violence with a healthy dose of nightmare fuel. The standard subplots slow this down, and while destroying monsters and evil soldiers is standard too, at least its' entertaining.
It depends.

Review
This has a great premise, merging World War II with German zombies/monsters. It feels like pulp and that's not a bad thing. That's what I want from this movie. The opening is action packed, dropping from an exploding plane and landing in water. We follow the reluctant soldier Boyce.

Boyce finds a few fellow soldiers and they hole up at the local village. We soon see the bad Germans and while this is setting up for future events and story arcs, in a movie like this it's taking a bit too long. I don't care if the the gruff soldier befriends the American culture loving kid. We're teased about a secret laboratory and experiments that is the epicenter of the soldier's mission.
Despite being outnumbered, they must complete their mission to ensure D-Day is a success.

We get plenty of characterization for the leads, but it's pretty typical. Boyce is likable enough but he has a standard arc. He's hesitant, not a real soldier, but by the end he gets the job done. It's nothing new.
Once Boyce get to the church turned laboratory this picks up. Boyce finds some disturbing subjects in the lab. This is where the movie gets wild with scary creatures and powerful villains. This is gross in a great way with straight nightmare fuel. There's a big fight and I like what the characters decide to do with the lab. That bolsters this as historical fiction and why we've never heard of these experiments.
This movie likes gore and this gets crazy. I just wish the first two thirds was as fun as the last third.