Finally! A Call of Duty Zombies movie! Not quite, but it's still a surprisingly good movie.
Directed by Julius Avery and produced by JJ Abrams, Overlord follows a group of US Airborne troops whose plane gets shot down on its way to Normandy, France. The troops that survived the crash bound together in a creepy ass forest and proceed to a local town where the plot ensues. Tasked with taking town a Nazi tower stationed at a church, the soldiers encounter some sketchy Nazi experiments that create... yep, you guessed it: ZOMBIES!
I'm not going to lie when I saw the trailer for this movie in the theaters I thought it looked stupid, but now with my AMC A-List membership I convinced my lazy ass to see it and I was pleasantly entertained. (That entire sentence was unintentional advertising for AMC. You're welcome) From the start, I was engaged with this one. The opening sequence was fucking awesome. They get right into it with a big air battle that was tense and filled with laughs. Yes, laughs... This movie is surprisingly funny especially in the beginning mostly due to John Magaro's character who steals the show as a wise-cracking New Yorker. The chemistry amongst the group was solid throughout and their back-and-forths all hit with me. There is a main character to a degree, but he's pretty passive throughout and just happens to be the guy that we follow the narrative through. He's also kind of a loser who opposes beating the shit out of Nazis and looks and talks exactly like John Boyega. There isn't much character development for any of the characters but it's a war movie and I give it the "Dunkirk pass" for that.
Now, I went into this movie expecting a zombie porn-fest and left a little disappointed with the lack of zombies. This movie had a much more grounded and "realistic" plot than I was expecting which is a positive, but where were the zombies??? I mean I'm glad it wasn't just a COD zombies DLC pack but I was hoping for a lot of zombie killing and there wasn't much. In fact, a good chunk of the movie goes by before you even glimpse a zombie. It's a shame cause the zombie transformation effects were actually pretty cool and gross. At the end there are some one-on-one encounters, but most of the action is between living soldiers. The fact that I still liked this movie even though it wasn't what I was expecting at all is good, but I wanted more zombies.
As for the villain, played by the guy who plays Euron Greyjoy on Game of Thrones, he is pretty solid. Honestly, he is like an above average Marvel villain. I mean how hard is it to make a villain when you're dealing with the Nazis.
Overall, this film was a fun ride with solid action, good laughs, and a refreshing, original plot. It suffers from a weak second act, but everything else flows pretty well. I wish the main character was more likable as I found myself caring more about the others. I recommend this one for a fun night at the theater, but don't go in expecting waves of zombies.
My Score: B-