Flash Reviews: Outlander [movies]

Outlander (2008)
Sci-Fi/Action/Period Piece; USA
115 minutes

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One can't help but be intrigued by the premise of "Outlander". A spaceship crash lands on Earth in the time of the vikings bringing with it a technologically advanced warrior from a far-off planet and one of the indestructable alien monsters responsible for the near eradication of his civilization. Vikings vs. aliens...sounds awesome, right?

Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's not quite as cool as you think it will be. That's not to say it's bad, of course - it's a pretty decent flick. Unfortunately though, timing killed this movie. The basic plot arc of "Outlander" is based heavily on the epic poem Beowulf, which also happened to be adapted in a similarly adult fashion by Robert Zemeckis just a few months prior to "Outlander"'s much delayed release. As a result, the movie feels a little less original than it could have and it doesn't quite out-do Zemeckis' awesome "Beowulf" film in any particular respect. It really is a shame because aside from that, the film has a lot going for it. The budget isn't huge, but they do a lot with what they have. The writing is decent and the performances are all passable (which isn't easy considering the somewhat ridiculous scenerio being presented). It's even got Ron Pearlman in it...who can say no to that?

Give this some time if you're into: vikings, aliens, weird concepts, monster flicks, sci-fi in general, Predator