HEAVY METAL // A FILM REVIEW OF "ALIEN OUTPOST"

BY MATEO MORENO

It seems that every film nowadays is taking the "documentary feel," the "of the moment" style that takes us behind the scenes within the movie, no matter what genre of film it is. And so ALIEN OUTPOST does the same, taking us into the not so distant future after a group of aliens have invaded. We see through the eyes of the soldiers in Pakistan who have survived this onslaught, talking directly to the camera, as well as see the footage that the "documentary" crew has picked up. It's a Sci-Fi "Restrepo (the great 2010 documentary following soldiers in Afghanistan)" but only with character types and broadly drawn archetypes instead of juicy plot development.

Jabbar Raisani directs a ragtag crew of soldiers who, as we're told in the opening moments of the film, is an alien race attacked earth in the year 2021. They slaughtered an uncountable amount but were chased off the planet. In their haste, they left behind thousands of "Heavies," as they call them here, and the soldiers now are always on the lookout for them, telling stories of them and often revealing that they've never actually seen one or only saw one briefly. Following them is a camera crew to capture all of the action. The "Heavies" don't show up right away, but once they finally do (usually at a distance) the body count begins to quickly build within their own.

Raisani has an interesting concept but the follow-through feels much more like a draft concept than a feature film. The Alien invaders aren't that cool and often feel, uncomfortably, like a thinly veiled version of an Afghan soldier. Some of the acting is pretty solid but the story often is a jumbled mess (why exactly are the Pakistan locals fighting those protecting them from the Alien invasion?). A few visual nifty tricks can't make up for the fact that this shoestring budget of a film ran out of ideas before they started shooting. Raisani may have had a clever idea, but his critique of the Iraq war has all the gentleness of a bludgeoning hammer. However, if you love watching shaky camera shots of soldiers yelling, "Go! Go!" and don't care too much for plot, then you may delight in this Outpost.

MATEO'S GRADE: D+

Written by Jabbar Raisani, Blake Clifton Directed by Jabbar Raisani

Starring Adrian Paul, Reiley McClendon, Rick Ravanello, Douglas Tait. CONTENT ADVISORY Adult Language, Violence

FINAL THOUGHTS: ALIEN OUTPOST has a good idea locked away in storage and might have made a nifty short film. But there's just not enough to justify a 90 minute running time.

MATEO MORENO is an actor, playwright, and director. He owns and runs TheArtsWireWeekly.com and has had several of his plays produced in the New York area and the Midwest. He is currently working with Boomerang Theatre on a short play piece and spends his days working on Broadway hits like MATILDA and IT'S ONLY A PLAY. He resides in New York City.