Aliens vs . . . Vikings?

I just saw Outlander today.

My brother highly recommended this one to me and it did sound interesting, so I got it from ITunes.

Basically it's a reworking of Beowulf, with the part of Grendel and Grendel's mom being played by alien monsters. And the hero is also an alien.

The basic plot is an alien crash-lands in a lake in Norway in 700 AD after a monster called a Moorwen kills everyone else on board his ship. Of course, the monster also survives the crash and sets up residence in the area, killing everything it can get ahold of. And the only person who can stop it is our hero.

Of course there's quite a bit more to it than that, but that's the starting point. It's set around 700 AD, a period of history I know almost nothing about, so I can't attest to the historical veracity.

To begin with, though, there are a couple of things about films like this that usually irritate the piss out of me, which weren't issues here--namely, the alien hero that looks, acts, hell, is, human, and also two civilizations that have never encountered each other before that speak the same language. Both of those are dealt with here. The solutions used aren't original--and really don't bear close scrutiny--but they only take a tiny bit of screen time and they satsify the grouchy old coot in me and let me watch the thing.

Overall I dug it. The monster was well done, interesting, and remained mysterious all the way to the end. There were a couple of moral questions I thought were going to be side-stepped, but they weren't, something else I appreciated. The acting was fine, the effects were very well done, and I watched it on my iPod, which means I got full benefit of the sound editing, too, via my ear-buds. Also, the resolution on the screen on that thing is amazing, which offsets the tiny size. To me. Plus, having John Hurt and Ron Perlman in the cast is an added bonus.

The only problem I had was about a third of the way through it sort of seems to forget what it's all about for a little while--there's a party scene that goes on way too long. Granted, it's important to the plot, but a few minutes could have been shaved from that. It was starting to get tedious. But then it picks up again.

Overall, though, I give it a B. Had to ding it a letter grade for that party scene. I still recommend it to you--it's a fun flick, well acted, and visually very interesting. Check it out!