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.

TV Review - Defiance, Season One - Spoilers

Defiance is set in the year 2046 on an Earth populated by both humans and aliens. The aliens, a number of species collectively know as the Votans, arrived in 2013. After a few years of attempting peaceful integration, a war broke out. After a few years of combat, the war ended when the alien fleet exploded, unleashing the Votan planetary engineering technology on the Earth. In the present, the various races on the Earth are trying to rebuild a planet that has been radically changed.

The series is an ensemble show with multiple stories lines, although the main protagonists are Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler), a drifter and former soldier and his adopted daughter, Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas), an alien version of the "rebellious teenager" trope. In the pilot, Joshua arrives in Defiance, formerly St. Louis, and becomes the sheriff or lawkeeper. Stories in the first season focus on a mix of world-building, establishing the various factions struggling for power in Defiance, some teen drama for the under-18 demographic and, in general, strip-mine other, better shows for ideas.

The Good

The premise is interesting. It provides a large sandbox for writers and visual effects people to play in. Some of the world building is clever and the there is a real effort to create different cultures for the featured alien races. Julie Benz as Amanda Rosewater, the mayor of Defiance, Tony Curran as Datak Tarr, an alien Tony Soprano, and Graham Greene as local mining mogul Rafe McCawley, all deliver good performances. There as some nice make-up and CG effects and visually, the series displays some creativity.

The Bad

Pretty much everything else. Characters are bundles of stereotypes. Scripts are rehashes of worn-out tropes. Dialogue is a mix of clunky exposition, forced obliqueness for "dramatic effect" and cliches from the SF and action genres. The writers also insist on introducing new terms - like lawkeeper instead of sheriff or police officer - that sound silly. Alien profanity is worked into the dialogue, much in the way Firefly uses Chinese. In fact, a lot of ideas and characters, including Joshua being much like Mel Reynolds, seems to be taken from Firefly; rest assured, that is not the only property that has been ported over to Defiance. The leads are dull. While an attempt has been made to create a couple of alien cultures, they are each defined by a single characteristic. The Irathients are native Americans, the Castithans focus on family honor, the Indogenes are scientists...you get the idea. The teen-drama angle - which follows Romeo and Juliette...I mean, Alak and Nicole - is cliched, boring and takes up far-to-much screen time without establishing any chemistry between the characters.

I'll probably check out Season Two and see if some of these problems are addressed; first seasons of shows are often weak. If nothing else, it is fun to watch an episode and figure out what other TV shows or movies ideas were taken from. Okay, I have an odd idea of fun.

If the Defiance creative team stops relying on tropes and lazy writing, then they might have a good show. However, if Season Two turns out to be more of the same, then there will be no Season Three for me.