Zombies: Global Attack

Having stumbled upon "Osombie" by sheer luck, I decided to give it a go. We got Abraham Lincoln battling zombies and vampires this year, so why not also have a zombie Osama Bin Laden as well? I thought this movie was going to be a comedy spoof, but it actually turned out to be a serious movie. So what is next this year? Saddam Zomsain? Anyway, the movie "Osombie" starts out with action and adrenaline right from the very beginning and doesn't let go before the end. This is a zombie movie that steps out from other regular zombie movie, in terms of the storyline and the fact that Osama Bin Laden is a zombie.

I enjoyed the movie, lots of action in it, and the action scenes were well executed and looks good. But what really worked was the zombie make-up. Lots of really nice detail here, and lots of great work on the make-up. The zombies looked really cool, and weren't just people with their faces painted gray. And the blood and gore effects were cool as well, lots of heads exploding all over.

The people cast for the roles were actually doing great jobs with their given roles and characters. The acting was good and believable, coming off nicely on the screen. People seemed to be enjoying what they were hired to do, and that showed off in their performances.

Now, there were some bad things about the movie as well, some flaws. For example, when did the American army allow their troopers to bring Katana swords with them into the incursion fields? And also, why did Chip have to take off his jacket and shirt all the time? That was just so stupid, and not really how a soldier would act in a situation like this. And to top it off, then suddenly there is a Katana training montage video with Tomboy in the middle of it all, it came out of nowhere and it made absolutely no sense. It was so lame.

But aside from these really stupid annoyances, then "Osombie" was actually a rather entertaining movie. And if you are a zombie aficionado, like me, then you definitely owe it to yourself to check it out. It is well worth a watch. However, the storyline about Osama Bin Laden as a zombie was a bit on the cheesy side though, but the action and the zombies more than made it up for that silly approach.

Being a non-American I did find the movie to be somewhat thick on pro-Americanism, waging war on terrorists even when they have come back from the grave. But hey, it is a movie, meant for entertaining, not being a political broadcasting channel.

This movie was something I accidentally stumbled upon and had high hopes but was truly disappointed. While I enjoy Zombie and gore movies as much as the other guy, I also appreciate some cinematic finesse thrown in. Unfortunately Osombie tries to survive on a single interesting idea with flat characters and an even flatter story.

The movie itself is quickly summarized, Osama Bin Laden supposedly "alive" as a Zombie, guy goes to kill him, his sister goes after him and meets some soldiers along the way in a zombie- infested Afghanistan. While this might be a lot of fun (think Dead Snow) it is not since the action is poorly dramatized, you never really feel that there is any real threat coming from the zombs. Also none of the characters offer any particularly likable traits why you would root for them.

Overall this movie was uninspired and while it had some nice CGIs and obviously some budget it really failed to create a story arc that would allow me to call this flick entertaining.

I'm not entirely sure why I felt the need to watch this. I had low expectations generally, and most specifically, I could only assume the picture would suffer from tawdry, boorish jingoism if not also racism. Even seen from afar, the concept sounds like one that will struggle to provide entertainment. Sit to watch, and to at least some extent I admit I'm a little surprised - I assumed 'Osombie' would be outright awful, but it comes off instead as a very mixed bag. That's hardly a trio of words that should inspire confidence, but when we're talking about movies in this level, "very mixed bag" can be taken as a compliment.

Filmmaker John Lyde has a long list of credits in TV and indie productions, and his direction is broadly solid if unremarkable - balanced out with some especially nice shots and scenes. Also wearing hats here as co-producer, cinematographer, and co-editor, I think he demonstrates fine capability all around. The filming locations are gorgeous (Utah, standing in for Afghanistan); costume design, props and weapons, and set design are swell. Action scenes, and the makeup, blood and gore, and practical effects realizing the zombies, all look good; while computer-aided visuals are sometimes too over the top (think headshots in action-horror videogames), given the slant of the film - sure, why not. Though unremarkable in the grand scheme of things, in and of itself I quite like James Schafer's original music, tinged with rock vibes.

On the other hand, Kurt Hale's screenplay is the chief source of those three key words, "very mixed bag." Dialogue is all over the place: in quieter moments it's hackneyed and unnecessary, while when geared towards plot development it's Just So. In attempts at any humor, at least half such lines are juvenile, tired tripe, leaving only a handful of quips, one-liners, and otherwise jokes to inspire some happy little neurons to fire off. Characters are written with a modicum of personality, but are mostly uninteresting; with only two women given any prominence, "Dusty" and "Tomboy" end up being the best characters just because they stand out. (Eve Mauro and Danielle C. Ryan lucked out.) Meanwhile, the expository attempt at an explanation for the zombie problem comes off as forced, strained, grasping at straws, an exercise in videogame logic. The overall narrative is almost extraneous and uninteresting, and seems to have gotten the least attention of anything. And the scene writing struggles or succeeds roughly following the pattern of the content I've described - though with unpredictable results from one moment to the next, and some inclusions are 100% superfluous.

Whatever particular weaknesses or strengths one may cite, though, the biggest flaw of all is deep inconsistency in tone. It could have been a schlocky but fun action-horror feature, and there are some ideas in the screenplay that are ripe for a more earnest genre romp. At other points 'Osombie' is so wildly preposterous or over the top that it feels like a horror-comedy, a parody of zombie flicks and military stories. At still other times scenes are so bland and uninspiring that they become all but soporific. Weirdly enough, all this rather seems to be embodied in the character Tomboy. She's a hard-boiled soldier like the dime-a-dozen bros - but also carries a sword for melee combat (and scenes in which she uses it are some of the most satisfying in the whole film!). She refuses to proceed lockstep with the more tasteless humor of her fellows, but also fleetingly illustrates romantic interest in one of the others and is commonly seen with... a lollipop. I like Ryan as an actor, and I think she's fine in this role - but the role is written very unevenly, in an unmistakable echo of the picture at large.

What it all comes down to is that it really seems like 'Osombie' didn't know what it truly wanted to be. It's well made generally, and I maintain that Lyde is a competent director. Yet the screenplay oscillates with scant rhyme or reason between silly, fun, bland, overcooked, and unnecessary - and with that, the acting, direction, and the rest of the production at large seem like they're scrambling to pick up the pieces and make something out of the hodgepodge of notions herein. Good ideas, adequate craft, some reliable people involved, all running around to make sense of what is sometimes almost senseless, directionless writing. When all is said and done I can very honestly say that this is better than I anticipated, but how much that really means is up for debate. I suppose if you're a major fan of someone involved, or extra curious, then there's a special reason to watch this, but for anyone else - well, so long as you keep your expectations low, it's passably enjoyable for a lazy, slow day. Even for as many problems as it has 'Osombie' is marginally enjoyable; would that it were more focused in one way or another.

It was only a matter of time for the movies to start flowing in regarding the killing of Osama Bin Laden. This year showcased three different films, but only one stepped out of the world of the truth and into the world of zombies to deliver a fun take on this important moment in history, Ozombie. The trailers offered a peek into what could be a pretty fun film, but will it deliver or just be another goofy spoof?

Ozombie follows a group of NATO special-forces on a special assignment that alongside a yoga instructor in search of her conspiracy theory brother who believes Bin Laden is still alive despite being buried at sea. To their shock he has returned from his watery grave and is making an army of zombie terrorists. Now they must kill Bin Laden again and stop the zombie insurgence before it infects the rest of the world. This film pretty much delivers the silly nature you would expect, but not the quality. They had a perfect opportunity to deliver a fun take on this moment in history with plenty of action and zombie gore, but instead ended up delivering more of a Syfy original movie style film that is almost laughable in a bad way. Much like most of these sorts of films, the acting is pretty bad and there never seems to be a sense of urgency for the onslaught of zombies. There is a quick explanation to attempt to tie everything together, but never really fleshes it out. For the most part this is non-stop action, which would have still worked perfectly well had they spent a little more time on the action itself. Most of it worked OK, but when it's supposed to be a Special Forces unit, they need to look like they have a bit better skills than your average soldier.

For all this films flaws it's still pretty fun if you enjoy some good cheese. They used way too much CGI blood instead of practical effects, but still deliver a decent zombie body count pretty much non-stop throughout. If you're a fan of films from the Asylum or SyFy then you will most likely have a great time with this one as well. If you can step away ignoring the bad acting and lame effects, there is still a fun film here to enjoy.

The war is on....for all terrorist zombies !.This film kinda came out of nowhere for me. I am always down for a zombie movie,and i like a good war flick.This movie was both.The actors were all good,played cool parts, and made good story.The fx were great,with lots of great looks,done without c.g.i. .(o.k. ,the blood-splatter from the tons of head-shots were comps)As far as story ,its simple-Bin laden may,or may not be dead-or alive.A group of merc's go behind enemy lines to take care of things...for good. All in all,this is a great little flick.Decent story,acting,gore,zombies,no comedy,and the props,weapons fx,and costumes were great.Of odd note,this film has no overt cursing,or swearing,no nudity,or sex.Though there,s plenty of the red stuff,the film really never gets very gory.Makes for a decent movie for younger fans to watch.