Outlander

“Outlander” is not a great film but it has a certain charm. I can see this mish-mash of “Predator” and “Beowulf” finding an audience... in viewers who haven’t yet seen “Predator” or "Beowulf" yet. Hmm.

In 709 A. D., a spacecraft crash-lands in Scandinavia. From the wreckage emerge Kainan (Jim Caviezel) and a “Moorwhen”, a hulking, alien creature whose hide is impervious to the Iron-Age weapons of the abandoned “seed” colony we know as Earth. Kainen must find a way to band the feuding Viking tribes together to stop the monster.

Directed by Howard McCain (who also co-writes with Dirk Blackman), this movie feels like something that would’ve come out in the late 80s/early 90s. I mean that in a good way. Jim Caviezel plays an alien that blends in perfectly with the locals, he’s up against a monster with an insatiable appetite, and helping him defeat it are the manliest of men history has ever produced: vikings. To kill it, they’ll have to forge part of his ship into blades, set traps, and stalk the creature in its lair. For good measure, there are details about this world peppered throughout that make it feel bigger than the plot, such as the Moorwhen’s origin, the concept of Earth not being mankind’s homeworld, rivalries and feuds between the vikings, and more. This was a movie people were excited to work on and for the right audience, that will be enough to bridge the gaps in the writing.

The special effects are good for a mid-budget 2008 sci-fi movie. There’s plenty of gore and action. I’ve got no complaints about the costumes, sets, makeup or performances. Where the movie could’ve been improved is at the script level. The characters are basic and often the movie forgets to follow through with the arcs they’re given. The “outlander” is captured early on and interrogated by Wulfric (Jack Huston), who's described as arrogant and cruel by his betrothed, Freya (Sophia Myles). On the one hand, I want to give the movie credit for making him smarten up once the Moorwhen is sighted and forget all about the grudge he develops towards our protagonist, but he seems so reasonable once the chips are down that you question Freya’s description. As for her, she’s set up as a much tougher woman than anyone believes she could be but eventually, she gets captured by the Moorwhen and needs to be rescued… so it didn’t matter that she could swing a sword.

There’s an attempt to make the Moorwhen more of a tragic wild animal than a monster. We’re told by Kainan that its species was wiped out so humans could occupy its planet, that it’s the last of its kind. That’s sad, but your sympathy for it is hard to maintain when you see its den. We’re not just talking about a pile of bloody bones; it’s several villages’ worth of half-eaten corpses piled high, underground. Talk about a glutton. It’s just killing people for fun at this point!

Either the characters needed to be developed a little further or the plot needed to be a bit smarter. Of course, King Hrothgar (John Hurt) and his people don’t believe Kainan when he tells them he’s hunting “a dragon”. Too bad. Is that line going to work in any time period, ever? I mean where do they think all the bodies went, didn’t they see the bent swords and the huge claw marks on the buildings? Anyway, when they take down a bear instead of the monster, it’s as if he doubts his claims because he doesn’t speak up again until the Moorwhen re-appears and starts butchering people en-masse. Maybe the problem is that the movie is too long, that its premise didn’t need the introduction of the rival village led by Gunnar (Ron Perlman).

I’ve got many criticisms for the movie but overall, I’d say I enjoyed "Outlander". There are plenty of missed opportunities, but seeing the Vikings pitted against the space alien monster is cool. The movie looks good and it gets its homages right. You're reminded of other movies but this story isn't copying them outright or even putting in any easter eggs for fanboys to discover. “Outlander” simply captures the essence of the other properties it loves.

Having viewed “Outlander” twice now, I see the flaws, I accept them and have decided they just don’t weigh as much as the entertaining bits. Even so, I don’t think anyone would ever call this their favorite movie, which makes it a good rental, or the kind of movie you catch on TV, enjoy as a substitute for a classic (or “classic”) and then set aside. (September 23, 2021)