Onslaught
review by bobby Blakey
Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett have delivered some great action and horror flicks together including You’re Next, The Blair Witch Project remake, and more recently Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. In 2014 they teamed up with actor Dan Stevens for the excellent action/thriller The Guest and now are getting the gang back together for their latest film Onslaught. Could their latest outing bring the expected action, or will it be a slaughter not worth fighting for?
Onslaught follows a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers who break loose in the desert and a badass Army sniper must unleash hell to protect her young daughter. In addition to Stevens, the film stars Adria Arjona, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey, and Rebecca Hall.
I have been a huge fan of Wingard and Barrett for years loving every film they have made. When I saw them back to this type of world I was all in and could not wait to see what they unleashed. This film harkens back to the old school action films of the 80s and 90s keeping things simple and letting the violence free. The film is a mash-up of Universal Soldier and Silent Rage with some slasher and comic book movies smashed together and on steroids in the best way possible.
The story introduces everyone and everything right out the gate and doesn’t waste a lot of time with wasted story elements. The whole thing is just setting up this chaotic barrage of violence that is going to be unleashed by these enhanced soldiers. These kinds of things obviously can get into the world of absurdity, and this is no different but does a great job keeping it as grounded as much as possible given the ideals on display. The visuals alone of the super soldiers is awesome and terrifying every time we see them. They are massive, scary and
effective in thier every move and kill. It relishes in using the visuals of them in the shadows with the glowing eyes and it just works.
Arjona does a great job as the heroine who is never a victim, but also not an unstoppable killing machine. She is scared, angry and everything in between all trying to protect her daughter and the rest of the residents however she can. She is also not alone with Die Hard alumni VelJohnson getting in on the action more than he ever got to with McClain. The rest of the cast are quite the personalities, and all get a time to shine or at least die so makes it feel more complete.
It takes a little bit of time to get things going and at times feels like two different films between government experiments and weird character looks and the desert outcasts living at the trailer park. When the literal onslaught begins it brings it all together perfectly and never lets up until the end. While I love the idea of revisiting this world, especially hinting there are connections to both You’re Next and The Guest it felt a bit incomplete at the end. They finish this initial fight but make suggestions of a bigger plan that we may or may not ever get to see.
Thankfully it doesn’t take away from the fun of the film and do hope it leads to more but would have been better for me to have a more finite ending to it all at least seemingly. This film might not connect with everyone, but I loved it and got exactly what I wanted from it.
Decide for yourself and check out Onslaught in theaters now from A24.
