Movie Review: "Attack of the Unknown" (2020)
Attack of the Unknown Movie Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released by Mahal Empire
Directed by Brandon Slagle
Written by Brandon Slagle, Michael Mahal, and Sonny Mahal
2020, 103 minutes, Not Rated
Released on V.O.D. on August 28th, 2020
Starring:
Richard Grieco as Vernon
Jolene Andersen as Hannah
Robert LaSardo as Miguel “Hades” Aguirre
Douglas Tait as Maddox
Robert Donovan as Weller
Tara Reid as Elizabeth
Gerarado de Pablos as C-Los
Review:
Call me old school, I guess. I’m a child of the ‘80s and a teen of the ‘90s. Action movies about elite law enforcement/military/general badasses stuck in a no-win situation are part of my cinematic DNA. Ditto for alien invasion flicks. Having the former happen during the onset of the latter sounds like a fun combination with the potential to do some interesting things. Attack of the Unknown ultimately checks off all those boxes while getting a bit lost early on.
Vernon (Richard Grieco; 21 Jump Street) is an aging SWAT officer whose life is on a downward spiral. Freshly divorced and laden with a deadly diagnosis, the only thing left that gets him off is the job. After his team takes down notorious crime boss Miguel “Hades” Aguirre (Robert LaSardo; Waterworld), they’re left with one last job: transport “Hades” to prison. That will prove difficult once the skies open up across the planet and disgorge vicious aliens intent on making human beings the next race they conquer! Salvation, however, may lie in a totally unexpected source.
Attack of the Unknown takes a stand early on in making sure Vernon is a real, fleshed-out, and layered character. It’s damn admirable, and Richard Grieco gives one of the better performances I can honestly recall seeing him give. Grizzled older age is not hurting Grieco in any way, and it fits this character as it’s written to the letter. This level of character development does hurt the pacing considerably in the first two-thirds of the film, though; there’s a feel of stopping and starting over and over again. Tara Reid also makes her usual show up and die appearance, and she also sings comforting songs during the alien invasion.
I’m not making that up.
What keeps that inconsistent pacing from fully being the issue that it should be are the different touches that give Attack of the Unknown it’s aesthetic and unique Judgment Day style. There’s a nice montage of people flipping their shit in quite realistic fashion. The blending of the practical SFX and better than average VFX is deftly handled and makes for a much more big-time feel. With their helmets on, the alien foot soldiers have a nice The Day the Earth Stood Still kind of vibe to them that gets much more gooey when the helmets come off. There are also some wonderful variant creature designs; the multi-eyed and bulbous-headed Spider Alien was absolutely first-rate and a highlight! That “hell cloud” effect in the sky used to signify the alien ship’s approach rivals Independence Day in scope and size if not execution.
Smartly constructed and ambitious, Attack of the Unknown utilizes one of Richard Grieco’s best performances to date to maximum effect and pairs it with a third act that goes full-bore into alien action territory. You can’t not have fun with the finish of Attack of the Unknown. The good folks over at Mahal Empire have proven their talents already with horror like Art of the Dead and Bus Party to Hell; action adventure seems to be comfortably in their wheelhouse as well.
Besides, even their action adventure has some good, old-fashioned brain sucking via space vampires. Who doesn’t love that?
Grade:
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
