Lighten Up, Francis!

Occupation (2018) – A small town in Australia is the launching point of a ground invasion of Earth by extraterrestrial forces. Their separate lives must weave a competent guerrilla force to hang on as long as they can.

Directed by Luke Sparke

Starring Dan Ewing, Temuera Morrison, Stephany Jacobsen, Rhiannon Fish

Why I Liked It – A more “realistic” view of how average people might react to an alien invasion.

Don’t worry if you don’t recognize any of the names of the cast. This is an Australian production with actors that are better known down there. Not to worry, they do a professional job here.

As mentioned before, I don’t spend much time reading other reviews before I write mine. But I made an exception after watching, and enjoying, this movie. There are LOT of lousy reviews out there for “Occupation”. One and two-star reviews that trash it for all kinds of reasons. Not understanding how they could dislike the movie that much, I read some.

Did I say all kinds of reasons? Yes. All kinds of STUPID reasons. Like they didn’t like the costumes on the aliens, that one actress couldn’t act (she was fine), that they didn’t talk enough about military tactics (it’s a story about civilians). The list goes on and on. Add in the now required complaints about “plot holes”, and people who (IMHO) shouldn’t be allowed to write about movies trashed this one.

This will not be such a review.

Is this a “great” movie? No. Given its limited budget (four million Australian dollars), it does really, really well. They kept the focus on the characters rather than on the special effects. The Australians do not succumb to the American mythology that three Yanks with guns can defeat any army. Which is refreshing. In fact, “Occupation” shows the very real issues that untrained people with limited weaponry have against any kind of regular military forces. Let alone forces from other planets with energy weapons. They do the best they can, but they are ground down inch by inch (oh wait, Australia, so centimeter by centimeter) with each passing day. The stress of losing their homes and loved ones in a shock and awe assault out of nowhere is etched into each face and character. The ending may be the weakest part of the story, but it’s weak in an attempt at nobility. Not the worst thing ever.

Let me put it to you this way: if you enjoyed “Independence Day”, my bet is you’ll enjoy this. It’s more geared around a ground war than an air war, but otherwise, the stories are much the same. Are there some silly decisions made by the director along the way? Sure. The humans figure out early on that there’s a gap in the sensors used by aliens that gives the humans an advantage. For the big final assault scene, the humans decide to ignore that advantage and charge headlong into the muzzles of the enemy’s guns. Does it ruin the movie? If I hadn’t brought up, at least half of you probably wouldn’t notice.

It’s a fun movie, with a solid cast and just enough special effects. If you’re looking for a great adventure/thriller movie for your next movie night, you won’t go wrong with this one. Taken within the boundaries of what it was trying to do, it’s a success.

You can stream “Occupation” on Tubi, Roku, Fandango, Plex, Amazon Prime, fubo TV, YouTube, YouTube TV, Google Play, and Apple TV.

Rating – *** Worth A Look