Good but well short of greatness

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2009)

There's no getting around the fact that this is a good film. It has suffered from being over-hyped and overrated by initial reviewers but it's still a very decent effort at a Sci-Fi flick with a difference. It's largely original in concept and execution and for that it should be lauded. However, i must echo many other reviewers sentiments in that you can't help coming away from the film feeling a little disappointed. It was an opportunity missed, a chance at greatness squandered. The first half of the film is great, and the sense of a potential epic builds within the first 45 mins. From there onwards unfortunately, the film dips in story and credibility and never really recovers. It doesn't turn into a bad film, but simply fails to take advantage of the initial momentum. Too many holes in the plot become badly exposed. Why was getting the tube from the lab so easy? Why weren't the aliens using their own weapons against the humans? Why was there such a clichéd bad guy in the leader of the mercenary troop? What was the point in having the Nigerians there at all? Still, its a decent film.