Film Review -Alien Outpost (2014) - Spoilers

Alien Outpost answers the question no one asked: what happens when you remake Battle: Los Angeles as a found footage film?

Set a decade after Earth is invaded by an alien race called the Heavies (a name calculated to hurt their self-esteem), Alien Outpost follows the adventures of the troop manning Outpost 37, as cataloged by a random film crew. Most of the Heavies have fled the Earth, leaving behind thousands of soldiers in the hinterlands. A series of outpost have been set up to monitor them; but the war seems to be winding down. A bunch of one-dimensional cliches shoots at CG aliens, local insurgents (who don't like having soldiers around protecting them in a ham-fisted Afghanistan allegory) and their mind-controlled colleagues. Because, yes, the aliens have mind control implants that no one has encountered before. Kind of a drone thing, I guess? Anyway, things happen, characters die and the day is saved. Yawn.

There is no reason this is a found footage film and, in the end, the format hurts the narrative. There is simply no reason for it, other than to explain why we see more of guys wearing Army surplus shooting Airsoft guns instead of aliens. Random things (like characters wandering up to the gate of Outpost 37) seem to happen whenever the writers are ready for a scene. The soldiers come across as being cobbled together from characters from other war films. Everyone seems interchangeable and, because of this, there is no impact when one of them dies.

When we do see effects sequences, they are pretty well done. Also, the story has some interesting ideas. The concept of making a "Black Hawk Down meets War of the Worlds" film is one worth exploring further, even if the films it has generated so far haven't been that good.

Alien Outpost is derivative of films (particularly Battle: Los Angeles) that aren't very good to begin with. It is hampered by poor plotting, bad camera-work (and the "it's found footage" excuse is one I'm not going to accept unless it enhances the story; in this case, it doesn't), bad acting, one-note characters and an unnecessary "the protagonists save the world" ending. It uses the tropes of the found footage genre to poor effect. And the story, while not without merit, is told in a tedious fashion.

Not Recommended.