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SCMP Reporter

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, John Hurt  
Director: Howard McCain  
Category: IIB
Outlander is as outlandish a movie as you can get from a silly daydream that has mistaken itself for a science-fiction adventure.
The film, written and directed by Howard McCain, is basically a rehash of Alien vs Predator. It opens with a spaceship crashing in Norway during the Iron Age when the Vikings ruled. The predator, a humanoid (played by Jim Caviezel, right), and the alien, which resembles an oversized Komodo dragon, climb out from the wreckage. 
What follows is bloody mayhem as the monster roams the land and the predator rallies the battered Vikings to prevent the alien from turning Earth into its hunting and breeding ground. 
The film's preposterous plot is beyond redemption and there's little life in its cardboard characters, ranging from the Viking princess (Sophia Myles), who predictably falls for the alien hero, to a hotheaded, jealous young warrior played by Jack Huston (far right) who looks like Johnny Depp but without the charisma.
Above all, the non-stop action sequences, albeit rife with special effects, are mindless, clumsy battles that try your patience. It's annoying to see an alien monster oozing glowing green liquid from its wounds. Is it too much to ask  the filmmakers to come up with a different colour for alien blood? 
Outlander touches briefly on the themes of war and colonialism when Caviezel's character confesses his sins as a intergalactic soldier to the princess. But any chance for reflection is lost as the camera zooms in on the snapping teeth of the monster. All bite and no talk makes Caviezel a dull boy.
Outlander opens today



Outlander