Director: Howard McCain
Cast: James Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston
Rating: 1/5
Dumb and terribly manufactured is what Outlander is. With a ton of different accents being thrown at you topped with an alien creature that looks like it lost its way from another film set, Outlander is a disappointing watch.
Set at a time when the Vikings reigned, the film has Kainan (James Caviezel) crash land onto earth from outer space. On his spaceship is also an alien beast that is more of a stowaway that creates havoc and kills anything alive. After a tussle with the Vikings and befriending them eventually, Kainan and the Vikings are out to kill the Morwen (alien creature) and save the lives of the village. Even asking you to guess what happens seems stupid.
The film is just tiring. It’s neither interesting nor interestingly told. The biggest problem is the fact that everything is hard to fathom. Tepid dialogues coupled with situations that seem improbable is what the film is. The film tries hard to convey grandeur and tell this epic tale of sorts, but the truth is there’s nothing epic about it. Sitting through this lost film is not something you ought to be doing.
While some of the Vikings speak English with a twang a few others sound Scottish. With too many accents being thrown at you, it’s difficult to decide if they are indeed of Scandinavian origin, Celts, Gaels or a mixture of it all.
The manner in which the film flows is extremely linear and there isn’t one interesting moment you would want to watch. Even the characters seem so uninspired and unimaginative that through the film all that bothers you are them. There is no half that is good; the film in entirety is bad. The writing is as bad as the execution. Eventually the film ends up feeling long, till the point you get frustrated enough to walk out and claim a refund.
A Viking cum alien movie is not quite what you want to be recommending to people. The film does look good at parts and is scenic, but that’s it. The film seems long and could have easily been shorter to make it crisper.
Bothering to write about this film itself feels like a task, imagine watching it. The costumes for the film look straight out of the warehouse department, used in some past low budget film.
There isn’t a performance that is good or even okay. Caviezel as the man who crash lands onto earth looks lost, almost the part but when it comes to delivering he fails. Myles as his lady love seriously hasn’t a clue what hit her, she looks dazed. Huston as the Viking is by far the best amongst them.
Outlander should be given a miss or rather out listed from the list of movies to watch. It’s unimaginative and thoroughly boring.
