THE BLACKOUT INVASION EARTH

Directed by:  Egor Baranov, Nathalia Hencker

Starring:  Aleksey Chadov, Pyotr Fyodorov, Svetlana Ivanova, Lukerya Ilyashenko, Artyom Tkachenko

An electromagnetic pulse from outer space throws 99% of the world into darkness, leaving a small area of Eastern Europe intact. A task team of special forces is sent into the dark zone to try and discover what has happened but the real answers lie elsewhere…

The Blackout is the latest in a long line of Russian sci-fi movies which are visually impressive but let down by muddled plotting and overlong running times.

 It doesn't help that, as usual, we start in media-res, watching the soldiers prepare for an attack from the darkness. It annoys me a lot that this plot/editing device is used so often. Its not like we have to wait very long before the story kicks into gear, anyway. Nevertheless, we then jump back to a very futuristic looking Moscow - imagine a clean version of Blade Runner's Los Angeles and you're partway there. The visuals are very good indeed with some very artistically composed shots along the way.

We get the usual set-up of the team entering unknown territory - the edge of the blackout zone - and finding only more questions instead of answers. Everyone is either dead or missing, pulled from their everyday existence. Meanwhile an alien visitor has made himself known to a teen with psychic abilities, claiming to want to help but does so in very strange ways.

We are presented with four main protagonists in the film - soldiers Oleg and Yuri and the ladies they get romantically entangled with - Olga, the chief medic and Alyona, a front line reporter. There's also a female commander and a young psychic vying for our attention.

 The concept of the psychic suggests that this film is in fact a sequel of sorts to some other film. There is a lot of exposition to explain his role - apparently there had been a previous alien attack which had left a good number of people with psychic abilities, which are in tune with the alien's thoughts. Just as well, as the alien doesn't seem to have a mouth…

The film does manage to raise the pulse slightly on occasion. There is a very well staged attack sequence in which the protagonists have to defend a tower block ad there is a really good tracking shot of a landrover charging through the battlefield. However the film is way too long for its own good and ends up spinning its narrative wheels for long periods. It's convoluted and doesn't make sense. The concept of the whole world except one tiny part of Russia being wiped out is too weighty for this film to deal with appropriately.

THE VERICT

Blackout is a very stunning film to look at but not so great to watch. While the visuals are great the story is difficult to follow at times. As I was watching the dubbed version of the film I shall give a pass on the acting, and there were some action sequences worth paying attention to.

6 out of 10