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Home Entertainment: ’The Blackout: Invasion Earth’ Blu-ray Review

Set in an unspecified future Russia, The Blackout: Invasion Earth pits the remains of society against an insidiously dangerous species of aliens. After a strange event destroys all life outside of a small circle of Russia, the remaining military must do everything they can to save humanity. Initial exploration of areas outside of the ‘circle of life’ uncover a deadly army of beings who are no longer strictly human. These ‘people’ are operating under a hive mind; their orders are to eradicate all surviving life. As the survivors struggle to maintain control over the planet, they find help in an unlikely ally, but will it be enough to save the world? 

Directed by Egor Baranov and Nathalia Hencker, from a script by Ilya Kulikov, The Blackout: Invasion Earth offers an interesting take on the alien invasion story. There are no air strikes or battleships, the alien race having a much more cerebral plan of attack. This plan works on a narrative level, making it more compelling than the ‘turn up and shoot’ variety of creatures, and also helps save the budget, mitigating the necessity for a load of space vistas. The budget is instead pumped into set and visual effects to create both a believable futuristic world and the desolate ghost towns that form the setting for the bulk of the battles. 

The first half of The Blackout: Invasion Earth is the stronger, the film takes its time to introduce our key players, their relationships to one another, and to build up to the battle that comes during the second half. In this section, Blackout swirls science-fiction war films with heightened futuristic landscapes. Think Starship Troopers filtered through the world of Blade Runner; the story world looks lusciously expensive. The neon-lit cityscapes are accompanied by future tech and a throbbing synth score that has the occasional echo of Vangelis. 

Once we venture into the second half of the film, the narrative development is temporarily put on hold, the action fully taking the reins for extended periods of time. This works well initially, but with so few characters at play, the film begins to suffer and an over-reliance on repetitive ‘last-stand’ style gun fights begins. The almost excessive battles are made even more confusing as the two male leads look startlingly similar and, once clad in full military gear and helmets, it becomes difficult to tell them apart. As the characters are very different types of men, things get disorientating for the viewer, the only way to really work out who is who is to pay attention to which female they are interacting with as each has their own romantic interest written in. 

With this as an opening ,The Blackout: Invasion Earth easily has potential to become the Russian Skyline. That series of films started with very humble beginnings and has just seen its third chapter arrive online, with a fourth film now confirmed. The series also began with an invasion, but since then has moved into a very different arena and the blueprints set out in The Blackout could similarly continue in some intriguing directions. The ending certainly offers plenty of minable material for continuation of the story. 

A film of two halves, the first being more narrative and character driven, the second, all-out action, The Blackout: Invasion Earth is an exciting, if not fully realised invasion story, that offers some interesting ideas and the seeds for a new dynamic science-fiction franchise. With echoes of Battle: Los Angeles, Starship Troopers, Blade Runner, and Skyline, The Blackout: Invasion Earth is a must-watch for science-fiction nuts.  

The Blackout: Invasion Earth is released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on Monday 28th December 2020.  

The Blackout: Invasion Earth

Kat Hughes

The Blackout: Invasion Earth

Summary

An insidiously dynamic take on the alien invasion trope, The Blackout: Invasion Earth has plenty to entertain those with a passion for science-fiction. However, it’s a film of two distinctly different parts that, although work well individually, don’t quite connect to produce a fully cohesive whole.

3

Kat Hughes is a UK born film critic and interviewer who has a passion for horror films. An editor for THN, Kat is also a Rotten Tomatoes Approved Critic. She has bylines with Ghouls Magazine, Arrow Video, Film Stories, Certified Forgotten and FILMHOUNDS and has had essays published in home entertainment releases by Vinegar Syndrome and Second Sight. When not writing about horror, Kat hosts micro podcast Movies with Mummy along with her five-year-old daughter.

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