Overlord Review: Super Entertaining Hybrid Saving Private Ryan & 28 Days Later

 We're sure at first (or maybe until this writing was taken down), many geeks didn't really care about the release of this World War 2 drama film directed by Julius Avery ( Son of a Gun ). Yes we can not fault.

 

Because the echo of Overlord , is not as big as the echo of other November releases such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald . Not to mention when watching the trailer last July, it was very clear that this film has the look and feel of a B-class movie or B-Movie .

But when it was finally released this week, Overlord surprisingly quickly became the talk of the whole social media. Because of the hype , we, who were reluctant to watch the film, became super interested. And luckily we got carried away with the crazy hype .

28 Days Later Meet Saving Private Ryan

Yep geeks . Overlord is a super entertaining sleeper hit . There is not a moment where we become sleepy or bored when watching it.

Anyway, since the opening scene which shows all United States soldiers preparing and being briefed to destroy a German radio tower in an old church, this film, which was produced by top filmmaker JJ Abrams ( Super 8 ) successfully caught our eyes.

This is because of Avery's ability to present the very distinctive dark and depressive atmosphere of World War 2. In addition, he is also successful in directing all the actors so that they look very natural and real in appearance. And it is very clear that the appearance of all the actors is not made up.

Apart from Avery's ability, another important factor that makes the film successful is, of course, the concept of the story itself. Who would have thought that the PD 2 genre a la Saving Private Ryan (1998) could  mix & match with the zombie genre a la 28 Days Later (2002)? Well, Overlord managed to prove it.

Class B Movies With Class A Sensation

As said in the opening, even since the first trailer was released, it looks and feels very much that Overlord is a class B film. And that's right geeks . But it can be said that this film is a class B film with a class A budget .

Not just a budget . The entire production featured also feels almost rival to Private Ryan and 28 Days Later . And of course this is a really cool compliment to pin.

 

Oh yes, this feeling is also influenced by the appearance of the actors who are very total. Because of the total, it becomes difficult for us to choose which actor shines the most here. Because, all of them shine with their respective roles.

But if we had to choose, we chose the cast of Privatel Boyce, Jovan Adepo ( Mother! ), Corporal Ford, Wyatt Russell ( This is 40, 22 Jump Street ) and Dr. Wafner, Pilou Asbaek ( Game of Thrones ). The back story of each character and the chemistry between the three of them looks interesting and is able to keep us awake until the film ends.

Zombie Elements Only As Seasonings

As said, the main factor that makes Overlord the talk is the uniqueness of this film which features zombie elements in it. Indeed, plot-wise, this element makes sense (not pushy). And the zombie make-up looks cool too.

But the problem here, this attracting element is not too dominant. It is very clear that Abrams and Avery prefer to put forward the war film element . It's okay. But in our opinion, it's a shame that the main selling factor of the film is not really that much prioritized

 

But fortunately when the zombies are shown, the figure of a dead creature that comes to life again is displayed to the maximum. So yeah in the end it doesn't look too bad either.

Super Effective Stress Relief Movies

In the end, Overlord is a world war 2 drama film with a zombie spice that is very entertaining and of course, very effective in eliminating the fatigue that is being felt.

 

Anyway, as long as the mind-set of geeks to watch the film is still within the shutter, it is guaranteed that you will feel satisfied inside and out, especially if you are a big fan of the zombie and war genres .

However, if your mind-set /intention is to watch a class A quality film, then it's best if you don't want to watch this film. Because this film is also very aware that their film is a film that is intended to just entertain.

Regardless of how geeks will react to Overlord , two things are sure to be seen after watching this film. First, JJ Abrams has once again proved that even if he wants a class A, B, C or F film, this glasses filmmaker knows very well how to choose a film project that is able to satisfy his audience.

Second, this film also successfully showcases Avery's cool abilities as a director. If in a "semi-small" film like Overlord , he can be cool like this, can you imagine if later he was appointed to handle hit projects like Star Wars or the MCU.

Well as a “first test” to find out the answer, let's see how it works in the upcoming Flash Gordon remake . Hopefully it will be just as cool as in Overlord .