And I'm not going to lie, I did the exact same thing. The first of only two reasons I picked up "Outpost: Black Sun" was because the dude at the video rental place told me it was actually pretty solid, a statement I took with a grain of salt. The second reason was because I made it into the store with all of 3 minutes until they closed, and I was desperate for something.
One thing I don't get is the rising popularity of the Nazi-Zombie. If you keep tabs on movies coming out, particularly in the direct-to-video market, there are lot of these movies lately. Probably way more than you'd think. Is it all because of "Call of Duty" that we have this rash of these things? I know that's a popular part of those games, and Nazisplotation has been around for a long time, but why are Nazis suddenly an "in" thing now? It seems to coincide with the same "ironically awesome" status that Nazis now have that made Chuck Norris a legend after his time, but is that really enough to warrant the resurgence of an entire genre of movies?
Back to "Outpost: Black Sun." It's true that my expectations were low for this one, but I have to say that when all was said and done, this is actually a pretty decent flick. I'm not joking with you right now. I find it hard to believe myself, but not only is the acting shockingly good, the action tense and exciting, the makeup great and the story interesting, but it even goes so far as to look good too.
"Baby, I know I look good..."
This is a direct to video movie with a budget of $3 million dollars, but it does not look like it at all. This movie looks like a theater released, big budget action film that in terms of looks could have held its own with pretty much any other film of the genre. This looks just as good as any random Paul W.S. Anderson outing. In fact it's a hell of a lot better looking since there's no obnoxious abuse of slow-motion. You know, after seeing "Outpost: Dark Sun" I'm fully of the opinion that writer/director Steve Barker should have been given the "Resident Evil" franchise. It would have been a hell of a lot better than the dreck we wound up with. Hell, this movie is already a better "Resident Evil" film than those and it didn't even try.
"Outpost: Dark Sun" is a sequel to the 2008 film, "Outpost," also by Steve Barker. Unfortunately I have not seen it, although I kind of want to now. I'm not sure what happens in the first film, but this one begins with an investigator named Lena, played by Catherine Steadman, who I started referring to as "Not-Maggie Gyllenhaal." She hunts down an old Nazi war criminal in a retirement home, and in a cheesy but still pretty effective scene, she finds a map which leads her to eastern Europe, where an old experiment by the Nazis is about to be unleashed on the world. The experiment, as you could probably tell, is zombies. Zombies that are Nazis.
No, seriously. Are you sure you're not Maggie Gyllenhaal?
An aspect of "Outpost: Black Sun" that is worth mentioning was that it did a good job ratcheting up the tension, which helps keep the plot moving and suspense high. The zombies in this film only possess their indestructible nature in this magnetic field generated by a machine hidden in a top secret bunker. Once turned on, the field slowly grows bigger, and the range of the creatures grows larger and larger. This is highlighted rather brilliantly by continually cutting back to the army that is combating this Fourth Reich, as their front line gets pushed back more and more as the field expands.
Once the zombies reach far enough, the army has decided to nuke the whole area. So it's up to two task forces to take down the generator and stop the zombies. We only follow one of them, as the other team is only reported as "missing." And despite being made up of some standard stereotypes, the soldiers I felt were acting pretty realistically, and I grew to like all of them, even the Scottish jerk, Hall, played by Ali Craig. Actually, he turned out to be my favorite of all of them. He was brilliantly entertaining.
The one thing that really caught me off guard with this movie was just how serious it took itself. This could have been campy, but instead they played it off as dead serious, dark and grim. You can take that for whatever you feel that is worth, but I really liked that aspect of it, honestly. That along with how (again) shockingly good this movie looks is the thing that made it stand out for me. There's also some pretty intense moments to be found.
Guuuggghhhglarrghghahghagblargh *shudder*
As for any downsides, well suffice to say that while it is indeed different than what you might be expecting, it's still not very shocking in terms of where the story goes. There's no twists or anything. The plot goes down pretty much exactly as you'd expect it to. That's not to say it's bad, it's just not anything we haven't seen before.
If there was a single aspect of "Outpost: Black Sun" I found to be outright bad, it was this really obnoxious...I don't even know what to call her. She was like this mad-scientist/nurse/Dr. Mengele zombie with a hump who's sole job it appears is to walk around the bunker with a hypodermic needle while incontrollably cackling in this sing-song, babbling child's voice. I know it's supposed to be creepy, but I found her giggling to be unbearably annoying, and cheered mightily when she gets taken out, but not for the reasons I think the filmmakers intended. Thankfully she's only in the movie for like 15 minutes, but it's a long 15 minutes.
Another reason I loved Hall. He shoots her in the face. And then calls her a bitch. Hall is astute.
SPOILER ALERT BELOW IF YOU CARE
It must also be said that the ending, while admittedly somewhat surprising, really smacks of unsatisfying. It's not that I'm upset that one of the characters turns coat at the end, even though my favorite character gets taken out in the process, it's just that I'm still not sure why they did it. It really seemed out of nowhere for the sake of setting up a sequel. And while it's true that one is set to come out this year, "Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz," which I'm looking forward to, from the description available it doesn't sound like it will be following up on this story. That's pretty lame because it's wide open.
Also, as much as I liked the character of Lena, I'm just not buying the Rambo-esque promise of vengeance that she gives the traitor over the phone at the end. I have to side with the traitor when he says "Good luck with that" after she flat out tells him she's gunning for him. She's not exactly Charles Bronson. And now he knows to watch his back. And he's got Nazis on his side now. She weighs 110 lbs soaking wet and the only person I've seen her kill was a 97 year old man in a wheelchair. Yeah, she bashed a zombie's face in with a fire extinguisher, but he was pretty much down for the count at that point. I'm not even sure if she knows how to shoot a gun. At least accurately. When did the idea of letting a guy who's actually a killer know she's coming seem like a good idea?
END SPOILERS
"In 2012 a crack commando unit was sent to an underground Nazi bunker by their superiors to stop a war they didn't start. These men promptly blew up the bunker and escaped to the Eastern European countryside. Today, still wanted by the Reich, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a Nazi problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find enough Phoenix Downs to bring them back from the dead, maybe you can hire...these guys. They haven't thought of a catchy monicker yet."
THE BOTTOM LINE - "Outpost: Black Sun" was a nice surprise. Despite the ludicrous premise, the plot getting a little too complex for its own good at the end, and ripping off the climax of "Raiders of The Lost Ark" at one point, it's one of the better direct-to-video action films I've seen in a while, and it's a pretty effectively entertaining time all around. I look forward to the sequels. Now I just have to get my hands on the first one.
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