Occupation

Official Australian release date: 12/7/18. Viewed: 13/7/18.

Director: Luke Sparke

Actors: Dan Ewing, Temuera Morrison, Stephany Jacobsen, Charles Terrier

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

   

‘Occupation’ is an Australian indie film, which happens to be a sci-fi invasion film with lots of special effects. It’s essentially a cross between ‘Tomorrow, When The War Began’/‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Monsters’ – and unfortunately isn’t as good as any of them. Its not all bad, but you can tell it’s a low budget film with not the best actors.

Part of the problem is too many characters – 10 main ones. Why not just focus on four or five? The main stars are Matt (Ewing), Peter (Morrison), Amelia (Jacobsen) and Jackson (Terrier). Other major gripes: why would aliens invade Murwillumbah, population 10,000? Why would they be playing Australian Rules and not Rugby League? Why do aliens always have to be humanoid & approximately human-sized? Why do they need to have such large eyes? That being said, it’s nice to see Aussie scenery & hear our accent for a change and the filmmakers certainly tried.

There’s probably a bit too much shaky-cam and gun battles, but the main concern is that a lot of it comes across as too corny and/or earnest. Could’ve done with a bit more humour/tongue-in-cheekness. Some good explosions and fight scenes, and doesn’t take too long to get going.

Overall: Unpolished, but valiant alien flick.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars.