Jim Caviezel Weekend – Outlander (2008)

Director: Howard McCain

Writer: Dirk Blackman, Howard McCain (Screenplay)

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, John Hurt, Cliff Saunders, Patrick Stevenson, Aidan Devine, Ron Perlman

 

Plot: During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan, a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking’s Iron Age weaponry.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Medieval Sci-Fi Actioner

 

Story: Outlander starts when a spaceship crash lands in Norway 705, we see two pilots emerge from the wreckage one Kainan (Caviezel) survives the crash, while the other shows wounds from an attack. Kainan gets a crash course on the local language Norse and culture while he gets ready for rescue. Kainan decides to explore the local wildlife for basic survival reasons and comes across a small village that has been destroyed before he is ambushed by the locals.

We learn that the people who capture Kainan have their own conflict between king Hrothgar (Hurt) and his daughter Freya (Myles) about who she can marry while the man who captured Kainan is the man who could become king Wulfric (Hudson). It isn’t long before the dragon that Kainan has been hunting attacks the village leaving many dead or missing. Even after the attack the village refuses to believe Kainan story of a dragon, believing Gunnar (Perlman) and his village is responsible.

The village goes on a hunt with a still captured Kainan who proves his worth to the village leading to them joining forces to finish off the dragon who took his family from him. Kainan has to slay the monster and unite the two battling village to kill a common threat before they all get killed.

Outlander manages to mix the two worlds of sci-fi and medieval without having to include the idea of time travel. This film could have been lazy and just resorted to time travel but instead tries to create the idea of different times through the universe. This makes things very interesting because Kainan is an alien to our people, we get to see a realistic reaction to an unknown person turning up in the time which would be very hostile in the time period. I did like how Kainan isn’t as good as we believe he is but wants to redeem himself for the error in his ways. I would go negative with how the film ended because we know that Kainan’s people like to conquer and destroy worlds and approaching Earth wouldn’t they want to destroy Earth like they did the other planet? When it comes to base story we get a very interesting story that shows by pointing a side differences people can conquer a common enemy. (6/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Jim Caviezel: Kainan is from a faraway galaxy but when his ship gets attacked he ends up crashing in Viking Norway along with his monster a dragon. Kainan has to unite the two fighting villages to look to hopefully finish off the beast once and for all. Jim shows why he can lead a film, but he does need a strong support cast because he doesn’t quite have the complete ‘IT’ factor needed for a film this level. (6/10)

 

Sophia Myles: Freya is the daughter of the leader of one of the villages who is meant to be married to the man her father see most fit to become king. She is very good in combat which could become helpful in the battle. Sophia gives a solid supporting performance playing the new tough princess role. (6/10)

 

Jack Hudson: Wulfric is the young leader of the warriors who could one day become king but his conflict with Kainan could show his real colours. Jack gives a standard performance in the supporting role never really shining to the level required. (5/10)

 

John Hurt: Hrothgar is the leader of the village who has to try and control the rivalling village to take down the dragon. John gives what you would expect from him but this role could have gone to any older actor making this a rather plain performance for what Hurt is capable off. (5/10)

 

Ron Perlman: Gunnar is the leader of the other village who ends up getting involved in the battle once he learns what really took his town and family. Ron makes for a good Viking but doesn’t get enough screen time. (5/10)

 

Support Cast: Outlander has a large supporting cast of what would only be called background Vikings who either help in battle or die in battle.

 

Director Review: Howard McCain – Howard does have a good idea that works on paper but the two generation meeting wouldn’t always appeal to the casual audience. (7/10)

 

Action: Outlander is filled with battle scenes between the Vikings and the dragons. (8/10)

Sci-Fi: Outlander manages to mix a visitor from the stars with Vikings nicely to create the story without having to resort to the sci-fi side to the story too often. (7/10)

Settings: Outlander creates a realistic looking Viking settlement for the most part but the alien worlds very heavy on the CGI. (7/10)
Special Effects: Outlander has what can only be described as poor CGI effects for the creature, the alien worlds and even the spacecraft, with a budget this big you would expect them to get this right. (1/10)

Suggestion: Outlander is one to try but don’t expect anything special if you do, I would be best suggest to fans of the Vikings too. (Try It)

 

Best Part: Not using time travel.

Worst Part: CGI

What Could Have Been Better? – Better CGI

Action Scene Of The Film:  Joined forces fight.

Favourite Quote: Kainan ‘This thing has carved out a territory and you’re in it!’

 

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Nope

Post Credits Scene: No

Similar Too: Pathfinder

 

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $7 Million

Budget: $50 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

Tagline: It destroyed his world. He won’t let it destroy ours.

 

Overall: Outlander does make for a solid sci-fi film but never reaches the levels it could.

Rating