Today’s quick review: Alien Uprising. England is thrown into chaos when, the day after a mysterious power outage, alien ships appear in the sky. Michael (Sean Brosnan), Carrie (Bianca Bree), Robin (Simon Phillips), Dana (Maya Grant), and Vincent (Jazz Lintott) must face looters, madmen, and alien scouts to reach Michael’s uncle George (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a former black ops soldier who can protect them.
Alien Uprising is a budget sci-fi movie about an alien invasion. The movie takes a slightly different tack than its bigger-budget counterparts. It focuses on the human side of the invasion, including the panic it causes, the darkness it brings out in people, and the difficult moral choices the survivors face. In spite of these promising themes, Alien Uprising suffers from weak execution and a poorly constructed story.
Alien Uprising has the makings of a decent budget flick. The characters are not phenomenal, but they have flaws that the story can work with. The movie takes its time building up to the invasion, focusing on the fear and confusion among the populace rather than flashy, plot-critical action. Alien Uprising even tinkers with a few interesting ideas for the mechanics of the invasion, although it is slow to develop them.
But very little of this potential pays off. Alien Uprising does a poor job of managing its story. The setup drags on and on, the characters start on arcs that never finish, and the story lurches from idea to idea without ever seeing them through to the end. Even worse, Alien Uprising does not have a clear objective in mind. The ending, when it comes, is awkwardly timed, poorly set up, and thoroughly unsatisfying.
Those willing to venture into the budget sci-fi genre will find Alien Uprising has a handful of ideas to offer but not much more than that. Those who are truly curious may want to give it a shot, but the movie is badly outclassed by its competition. Most viewers will want to give it a pass.
For a sci-fi movie about aliens invading Britain that has more attitude, try Attack the Block. For an alien invasion movie that uses its budget more intelligently, try The Darkest Hour or Skyline. For a budget sci-fi movie that suffers from similar problems, try Attack of the Unknown. For a monster movie with a similar focus on civilian survivors, try Cloverfield. For a thriller that examines a similar social breakdown, try The Mist.
[3.1 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2040578/). I give it a 4.0 for glimmers of potential amidst a mismanaged story.