OCCUPATION: RAINFALL

 

I do love an alien invasion movie, Independence Day being one of my all time favourite films. Falling under the sci-fi genre, they open themselves up to be as crazy as they want to be, restraints on logic not being any issue at all. Occupation: Rainfall is a sci-fi action sequel to Occupation, a film I didn't see, and it's actually a better sequel to Independence Day than what we actually got from Roland Emmerich.

Two years into an intergalactic invasion of earth, survivors in Sydney, Australia, fight back in a desperate ground war. As casualties mount by the day, the resistance and their unexpected allies, uncover a plot that could see the war come to a decisive end. With the Alien invaders hell-bent on making earth their new home, the race is on to save mankind.

This film genuinely took me by surprise at how much I enjoyed it and became invested in the story, even if it was a little overlong for its own good as a result of a middle act that sort of drags itself towards the finale. Either side of that middle act is an opening act and finale full of action, from aerial dogfights to battles on the ground, that is brought to life with some rather impressive visual effects I didn't expect this film to possess. Of course there are some dodgy effects scattered throughout and the bigger budget than its predecessor helps in that department but it certainly made the film more enjoyable to sit through.

The design of the aliens isn't mightily impressive, ones that appear as actors in costumes looking like they've been plucked right out of an episode of Power Rangers. That isn't necessarily a bad thing either. The paper thin characters and the lack of development amongst most of them is a troublesome aspect of the film, particularly throughout the middle section of the film that could have done with a little development to make it seem worthwhile.

The performances in Occupation: Rainfall leave a lot to be desired and made me instantly compare it to the recent sci-fi action film, The Tomorrow War. They are similar films but the major difference comes when you have at least some actors in your film with a little screen presence and charisma. There's a line late on in the film that homages Hudson's "Game over, man!" in Aliens however, it's so lacklustre in its delivery that you can't help but feel as if they should have committed to going all out with the insanity from both the narrative and character aspect.

I went in expecting the worst but came out genuinely surprised at how much I liked Occupation: Rainfall, a sci-fi actioner that goes big with the action and delivers plenty of spectacle, sacrificing a better than average narrative in the process.

Signature Entertainment presents Occupation Rainfall in Cinemas and on Digital from 9 July

Verdict: ★★½