Film Reviews

Outlander

• Rating:
• Director: Howard McCain.
• Starring: Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, John Hurt, Jack Huston.
• Details: US/Germany / 115mins (15A).

A spacecraft crash-lands on a planet and there is only one survivor. The survivor is captured by the planet's inhabitants and taken back to their abode. However, a deadly, unstoppable alien was aboard the spacecraft and is now loose. Can the planet's simple people and their crude weapons stop the creature before it kills everyone? No, this isn't Alien 3, but Outlander's parallels to that sci-fi actioner are hard to ignore. Caviezel's spaceman lands on Earth circa 709 (doubling up for the medieval setting of Alien 3). He's captured by Vikings (the inmates of Fury 161) and, while in captivity, Caviezel grows attracted to Freya (Myles, stepping in for Charles Dance's doctor) and becomes a father figure to a young boy (Aliens's Newt). Caviezel claims to be escaping a 'dragon' (which is what one inmate called 'the alien') that will wreck havoc if he isn't set free to kill it. Wulfric (Huston) doesn't trust this 'outlander', but when bodies turn up he grows to respect him (replicating Charles S Dutton's hard case)... It sounds as if it should be a lot of fun, but Outlander concentrates more on furrowed brows than tongues in cheeks, which is an unfortunate decision. Caviezel's Kainan has no problem adapting to the ancient time or the strange new world he's found himself in, which sidesteps a plethora of possible, if obvious, comic episodes open to the writers. An injection to the eye gives him all the information he needs and allows him to understand the local Norse dialect. This foreshadows a 'that'll do' attitude rife throughout the movie. Hampered by poor characterisation, which spreads like a virus throughout the cast, Caviezel doesn't have a lot to do but gaze into the night and look worried. Hurt, playing a Viking king not long for this world, has nothing to do either but love his feisty daughter (Myles) and mentor the upcoming Wulfric on what it takes to be king. Ron Perlman makes an extended cameo as the Viking clan's enemy but he is underused and isn't given a decent line to riff off. The special effects are lacklustre too: lighting up like a bling mobile phone with too many Jamster add-ons when it's about to strike makes the alien look ridiculous instead of scary. Poor show.

Review by Gavin Burke