Review: ‘Revolt’ delivers a swift, satisfying alien invasion
It’s the end of the world as we know it — once again — in “Revolt,” a propulsive, no-nonsense sci-fi thriller that’s far more watchable than its generic title may imply.
Joe Miale, who co-wrote with Rowan Athale, makes a sturdy feature directing debut with this futuristic tale of an American soldier (Lee Pace) who wakes up in a jail cell outside Nairobi, Kenya, with a seeming case of selective amnesia: He can’t remember his name — he’s dubbed “Bo” by prison-mate and sexy, ex-French army medic Nadia (Bérénice Marlohe) — yet can later recall how to shoot guns and fix cars. Just go with it.
Bo and Nadia bust out of jail and into the crosshairs of an invasion of giant metallic, giraffe- and crab-like alien killing machines that have apparently wiped out all but this war-torn swath of Africa. (The film was shot in and around Johannesburg).
Our intrepid leads begin to have eyes for each other as they battle hostile poachers and those pesky, people-swallowing aliens on an obstacle course to the border. Bo’s identity, if not his name, becomes clearer.
An action-packed third act gives way to a bit of an anti-climactic ending. But it all moves so fast, furiously and unfussily that genre fans should be satisfied.
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‘Revolt’
In English, Swahili and Kikuyu with English subtitles.
Rated: R, for violence including some grisly images
Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes
Playing: AMC Covina 17; also on VOD
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