This is not the first time when J. J. Abrams put the finances into the risky project (remember "Cloverfield"), but this is definitely a curious choice for such a filmmaker. "Overlord" is the rare hybrid of a WWII film and a zombie horror - kind of movies that were prosperous back in 1970s and early 1980s, but has been long gone since then. And even in those times most of them were cheap and cheesy exploitation films, full of gore and nudity. (And yes, lots of people nowadays will think not of grindhouse cinema, but rather of "Call Of Duty" or "Wolfenstein" game series, which is an obvious point of reference here.)
And "Overlord" nearly perfect in assembling those pieces of a Nazi zombie horror movies into one single story. The plot is simple, action-packed and has it all: lots of fighting, shootings, machine guns and flamethrowers. The characters are schematic, almost one-dimensional, because it's not WWII drama, and that's enough. The SFX are great, there's a lot of blood and guts here, exactly what one can expect from a film which involves Nazis, experiments with (un)dead, and covert military operation.
However, there's some minor but annoying mistakes in presentation of some important plot elements, which hard to left unnoticed. Perhaps the most striking example of such retroactive anti-militaristic message is when Cpl. Ford decides to stop Nazis once and for all near the end of the film: his attitude looks a bit anachronistic in 1940s and such views for an U.S. soldier were much more credible rather after Vietnam War than during the WWII. There's also a very implausible fight between two main characters before the final onslaught, which looks ridiculous within the context of the upcoming Overlord operation.
But it all can easily be put aside, because "Overlord" is the Nazispoltation at its best: dark, bloody, action-driven horror about zombie soldiers trying to take over the world. Take it for what it is, and have fun.
And "Overlord" nearly perfect in assembling those pieces of a Nazi zombie horror movies into one single story. The plot is simple, action-packed and has it all: lots of fighting, shootings, machine guns and flamethrowers. The characters are schematic, almost one-dimensional, because it's not WWII drama, and that's enough. The SFX are great, there's a lot of blood and guts here, exactly what one can expect from a film which involves Nazis, experiments with (un)dead, and covert military operation.
However, there's some minor but annoying mistakes in presentation of some important plot elements, which hard to left unnoticed. Perhaps the most striking example of such retroactive anti-militaristic message is when Cpl. Ford decides to stop Nazis once and for all near the end of the film: his attitude looks a bit anachronistic in 1940s and such views for an U.S. soldier were much more credible rather after Vietnam War than during the WWII. There's also a very implausible fight between two main characters before the final onslaught, which looks ridiculous within the context of the upcoming Overlord operation.
But it all can easily be put aside, because "Overlord" is the Nazispoltation at its best: dark, bloody, action-driven horror about zombie soldiers trying to take over the world. Take it for what it is, and have fun.