brucefinch Review of Occupation: Rainfall

Occupation: Rainfall (2020)

So much explosive action - but I still yawned...

[6/10 · 3 February 2021]

Watching this knowing it's such a personal project, I was definitely impressed with the overall effect. But... though Sparke does a sterling job emulating the appearance of the franchise he loves so much - I felt he fell well short of Star Wars' emotional involvement. That said, every actor gives 100% embodying their character - to the point where I almost cared about them. Almost... Our connection with the key players is so thin that among all the brilliantly staged action choreography, I genuinely found myself yawning. In a spectacle on this scale that shouldn't happen. The light relief from Ken Jeong and his mate was a bit jarring against the sheer earnestness of every other character - but, again, they played it for all they were worth... The special effects were dazzling and virtually flawless - on the odd occasion you could 'see the joins' it was easy enough to suspend disbelief and go with the flow. And it was nice, as an Australian, to see all the recognisable landmarks. So, kudos for pulling off what they did - even if it was a bit silly and uninvolving at times. Footnote: 2 hours in I began to suspect they weren't going to wind things up... then, sure enough - It's only Chapter One! They didn't tell me THAT going in...