Overlord

Fantástico, repleto de cosas raras de geeks y de perfección técnica. ¿Por qué este tipo de comedias tiene que tener la pelea final más suntuosa, explotada hasta la última gota de potencial, que satisfaga hasta al más sofisticado fan del género? Overlord recuerda todo, desde Sky Captain y el mundo del mañana hasta Zombis nazis, pasando por el Grindhouse: Planet Terror de Robert Rodríguez. Es como un grind house más caro, de categoría A, pero (por desgracia) a diferencia de los típicos representantes del subgénero, se toma a sí mismo en serio, juega a los grandes héroes y se adhiere a lo políticamente correcto. El resultado es una mezcla opuesta de impresiones, que pueden calificarse como sea de una a cinco estrellas. Dependiendo de lo que se espere de él y del estado de ánimo del momento. [Sitges FF] (13.10.2018)

Did you play computer games? Does the sequel to the legendary Wolfenstein 3D called Return to Castle Wolfenstein sound familiar to you? That’s exactly what this film evoked in me. A completely crazy filmmaking trip, a bit nasty in the style of The Thing but otherwise a solid small-scale film which is by no means perfect, but it can entertain fans of this type of movies. Under normal circumstances, I would rate it even higher, but I was missing a bit more catchphrases that would entertain me. It seems as if writing quality catchphrases nowadays is more difficult than during the 1980s and 1990s. (24.06.2019)

It sounded more promising on paper. Overlord is a well made action horror film with undead, Nazis and undead Nazis. It's just that they didn't have a lot of money to spend on it, so it takes a long time to get going, and in the end Julius Avery and J.J. Abrams don't show enough to make it a real hit. But thanks to the good cast, the proper cinematic violence, and solid pacing towards the end, it's ultimately pretty good, though I guess more was expected. (18.06.2019)

The ultimate guilty pleasure and the best war horror movie ever. Hereditary is the most essential horror film of the year, Ghostland the most intense, A Quiet Place the most original and Overlord is the most emotional and brutal. Overlord serves up a whirlwind of eye-candy attractions from the 5th minute that don’t let up and leave you gasping for breath until the closing credits. A technically perfect polished action spree with breathtaking cinematography, an atmosphere driven by a nostalgic “Wolfenstein”, a likeable bunch of soldiers whose fate you care about and spectacular action backed by juicy gore. The make-up artists are incredibly skilled and serve up some very nice shots. The film manages to build solid tension on several occasions, there is no shortage of shocking jump scares and killing Nazis has never been more effective and entertaining in a film than here. There are fewer zombies, but they are all the more unstoppable bastards. Story-wise, the film doesn't wow, but anyone expecting Oscar nominations from a WWII horror film is out of their mind. Here clearly form wins over content, which not everyone will buy, but those who agree to the rules of the film will literally gush with excitement and thrill. It's a pity that Overlord probably won't make it to local cinemas, it will lose its charm at home on TV. The last time I left the cinema this excited was Deadpool 2 this year. (12.11.2018)

I thought the film would use the cast of unfamiliar acting faces to surprise you with who would be the hero, who would die, and who would survive (if anyone), but alasthe roles were clear after only a few minutes. What followed was nearly three-quarters of an hour of more or less boring or rather ordinary waiting to find out why I was actually watching Overlord in the first place, and then, yes, a fairly entertaining parade of practical gore effects, but one that was more intimate than I would have liked. Never mind that I didn't see Overlord in the cinema, the TV screen is just right. (22.06.2019)

Audiovisually it’s great, but in terms of script and direction, it’s a shabby grindhouse shoot ‘em up with a story that would work better as a video game – two thirds of relatively realistic war action and cheap psychology, followed by a final level tuned to action-horror where you have to kill the enemies with something a bit thicker than a stick. In a film, this approach is twice a shame: on the one hand, it can’t fulfil the expectations of a brisk and gripping carnage, and on the other, it excels in the impression of a serious war drama that takes the plot with the undead very seriously, but finishes it with an avalanche of action clichés and a wisecracking self-sacrificing hero. It’s not bad, because within the set standards, the script unfolds in a logical and well thought-out way, but it’s such a shame that the premise remains unfulfilled because they chose motives that are the total opposite (we follow a war mission into which the zombies get somewhat by mistake, and it doesn’t feel like the cruel, realistic horror they probably intended), and it’s too soft, too (it should have been much stronger visually). The excellent opening twenty minutes and the interesting alternative to the war genre with lots of minor ideas are worth the attention, but don’t expect a great B-movie with an intentionally silly bloodfest. For many people that might be good, but not for me. (05.02.2019)

Overlord es fundamentalmente una tonta película de serie B, pero se toma a sí misma del todo en serio. La película realmente carece de ligereza, de frases hechas, de algo pegadizo o memorable. Solo se me ocurre una escena imaginativamente humorística y de serie B (la granada en la boca), el resto es un patetismo terriblemente serio y artificial, culpa de un guion realmente flojo. Toda la trama se limita a huir de alguna cosa y a descubrir monstruos que se parecen a Deadpool sin máscara. Los personajes están escritos de forma totalmente trágica. En una breve lista podrían describirse como un negro de buen corazón, un vaquero malote, un italiano odioso, un chico listo, una francesa emancipada y un malo genérico de las SS, con una horda de nazis descerebrados. Todo ellos planos, sin interés y predecibles, a lo que no contribuyen unas actuaciones no muy sólidas. Además, la película es ruidosa sin necesidad: incluso los personajes tienen que gritarse durante la gran mayoría de los diálogos, aunque no tengan ninguna razón para hacerlo. Todo fluye en una dirección directamente esperada, sin giros ni sorpresas. Y las escasas escenas de acción con demasiados efectos (no suscribo la opinión de que el aterrizaje inicial está bien rodado) ciertamente no ayudan al deslucido guion. [Sitges 2018] (12.10.2018)

Guerra exagerada de cinco paracaidistas estadounidenses con nazis elaborando medicina experimental en Francia para transformar cadáveres en supersoldados mutados. La victoria total de los valores de producción refinados en una historia por lo demás completamente por debajo del promedio llena de personajes unidimensionales y tontos clichés estadounidenses, que es algo así como Frankenstein's Army con un presupuesto extremadamente generoso y escenas de acción de exhibición ostentosa, dependiendo en gran medida de elementos de estilo de terror y brutalidad explícita. Cuando tienes un escenario tonto y pobre, lo que es más, la penetración de primer nivel y un gran presupuesto rara vez lo salvan: la baratija visual puede funcionar como un parche, pero en este caso se despegará rápidamente si no te emborrachas con una presentación aérea muy impresionante y te das cuenta que el resto de la película se desarrolla en dos lugares, que contarás los zombis con los dedos de una mano, y que incluso los mejores trucos y máscaras no borran los diálogos estériles, la ausencia de exageración, la falta de imaginación, la predecible docena de eventos y realidad, que los protagonistas están constantemente enredados bajo los pies de un niño de seis años con una pelota de béisbol en la mano, probablemente para hacerlo aún más estadounidense. (13.10.2018)

If Overlord was a typical war film, I would have probably given it a boo rating, but it was a standard slasher film for people who can appreciate Wolfenstein or Resident Evil, so I enjoyed the mayhem and suppressed my criticism of the historical inaccuracies. It would have been pointless in this case anyway. If you don't mind a few hectoliters of spilled blood, the occasional deeper insight into the human anatomy, and a little French baseball fan, just relax, switch off your brain (except for the basic functions, that is) and there's a pretty good chance you'll be entertained. (08.03.2019)

A bit of a cheat on the viewer from my point of view, because instead of jacked-up zombie action (as the posters enticed), it's basically an unremarkable war movie with a stylish look and an altogether appealing cast. The whole storyline with the helper on the French side wasn't entirely bad, but I honestly expected a more significant revenge payoff (given the nastiness the French girl was subjected to). As a one-off, though, it wasn't bad. (28.06.2020)