Video summary
The reviewer introduces *Onslaught* as a film that attempts to satisfy fans of violent, gross-out action movies like *Overlord*, but ultimately falls short of its potential. Directed by the same creator behind recent *Godzilla vs. Kong* entries, the movie is described as an hour-and-a-half R-rated action flick featuring a strong female lead and super soldier antagonists. However, the reviewer notes that while the film starts with promise, it fails to deliver on its initial hype once the action sequences begin. The narrative structure involves three distinct storylines moving in tandem: a PTSD-afflicted soldier named Celeste caring for her daughter in a retirement community, military experiments creating hybrid zombie super soldiers, and a third character obsessed with bondage who is quickly sidelined.
The first forty-five minutes of the film are praised for their strong atmosphere, drawing comparisons to John Carpenter's work through its synth-style music, bombastic score, and gritty visual treatment. During this opening segment, the protagonist Celeste, played by Ariana Iria, is established as a capable but angry soldier who struggles with her past and feels burdened by her responsibility toward her child left at her doorstep. The reviewer appreciates the counter-clockwise countdown that signals the shift from slow buildup to intense action, noting that audiences are rewarded with exciting sequences once the timer hits zero. Despite these early strengths, the film's execution deteriorates significantly in the second act, where the excitement is dampened by a lack of creativity and an over-reliance on gratuitous gore for shock value rather than narrative purpose.
The central criticism revolves around the underwhelming performance of the main character and the film's inability to sustain its momentum through the climax. Although Celeste is hyped up as a badass, she fails to engage in meaningful action or demonstrate substantial growth by the time the movie ends, leaving her character arc feeling incomplete. Furthermore, the emotional core of the story regarding the mother-daughter relationship feels strained and unconvincing, as the characters appear estranged even when attempts are made to bond. While the film features notable cameos from actors like Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, and Michael Biehn, their roles do little to salvage the weakening plot. The reviewer also criticizes the final act for taking place mostly at night, which reduces visual appeal, and for relying on clichéd weapons like chainsaws and mallets that feel unoriginal.
In conclusion, *Onslaught* is deemed an entertaining but flawed movie that suffers from a significant drop in quality after its promising start. The reviewer acknowledges the film's high highs regarding style and concept but emphasizes that it lands with a "dud" due to poor execution in the latter half. While the gore and camera work, such as mounting cameras to trucks and guns, offer moments of interest reminiscent of video games like *Call of Duty*, these elements cannot compensate for the lackluster storytelling and character development. The reviewer ultimately suggests that while the film is worthy of a watch for fans of the genre, it does not require a theatrical release and can be comfortably viewed at home without missing much, serving as a cautionary tale about how a fun concept can fail when the execution cannot cross the finish line.
Read the full video transcript
Have you seen the film Overlord and
thought to yourself, you know, I really
love this movie, but if it was like 50%
less violent and about 80% less gross?
Well, you're in luck, baby, cuz
Onslaught is here to answer the call.
That dude that directed the recent
Godzilla v Kong movies is back and he's
bringing with him some old-school style
as he's getting back to his roots for
this hour and a half R-rated chick with
a dick action flick. And by dick, I mean
a big gun. And she's going to be using
that thing to take on some super soldier
freaks that seem to be indestructible.
So, strap in and strap on as I give you
a spoiler-free review for Onslaught.
Onslaught is an interesting little minx.
I I knew nothing about it going in other
than there was a poster with a with a
chick with a gun and a little girl and a
kind of like an eye patch thing. Her eye
was being covered with a ban- bandana
and I thought, "I feel like I've seen
this movie 500 times in the last couple
years." The strong female lead, you
know, taking care of business. She looks
to be about 90 lb soaking wet, an
absolute bombshell of an actress,
kicking ass, taking names, or maybe not
taking names. Onslaught sets the stage
very early though and lets the audience
know this is not your typical
paint-by-numbers crap. This is a very
bizarre ass movie with a counter that
goes from I I don't know, like 12 hours
down to action time. But that takes
place within like the first 40 minutes
of the film. It's not one of those dumb
things where you're counting along until
the movie's mercifully over. No, you're
actually enjoying the counter getting
down because that's when you know the
action's going to hit. What's
disappointing for me is that once that
counter does hit, that's when the movie
goes to [ __ ] I'm being dramatic on
YouTube. I know, shocking to think that
uh a creator would go over the top with
things. It does get worse for me. I
found the first half, much like the
recent film Buddy, to be way stronger in
the first 45 minutes. Iria Ariana plays
Celeste. She's the badass female
protagonist that kicks ass and just
shoots anything that she thinks deems
worthy of shooting. We're going to start
with her blowing up a bunch of pumpkins
as one does in the middle of the desert
where she lives uh in this kind of
retirement community for losers. She's a
soldier with PTSD, refreshing for a
film, I know, who's unable to move on in
life. Well, she better get on it because
she has a little daughter that's back in
the picture, got dropped at her front
doorstep because the husband needs to go
out of town on a business trip. So,
she's left with this [ __ ] child. What
what is she supposed to do with this
dead weight? She's going to feed it?
She's going to water it and put it to
bed? She's going to put it in the ground
if she's not careful because while this
plot's going on, we have another one
with the military. And they're building
up they're cooking up some freaking
hybrid zombie super soldiers over there.
Like this is an episode of the X-Files.
The only thing missing is Krycek. But,
instead of him, we have this weird dude.
There's like three stories kind of
moving around in tandem. Uh you have the
the woman with the kid, Celeste, and
then you have the experimental stuff
going on with the army, and then you
have this third individual who's a solo
guy who for some reason is really into
uh bondage, but uh we don't get to stay
for that plot. That one doesn't last
very long. We do get some tasteful boobs
and ass shots though for a little bit of
time, something to sprinkle in there.
Savor it. Enjoy it while it's there. Um
but, he gets called into action and he's
going to be part of the cleanup crew
that's going along to these places where
the super soldiers are at running amok
and just kind of documenting stuff,
making sure the mess is cleaned up and
contained so that the super soldiers can
be monitored as they go on their tear.
Now, the reason I say the story gets
weak in this last act where it should be
the most exciting stuff with all the,
you know, the carnage and the
slaughtering and whatnot, is because
Celeste is not that great of a character
to follow. She's kind of an angry
individual. She She's built up as this
badass soldier that's really good with
guns. She's got all these guns in her
house that she's never going to [ __ ]
use. And she is not really doing
anything of value or substance by the
time this movie ends. Like, she does so
little in this film. It's almost
impressive how high they hype her up.
Thankfully, there's some random-ass
extra characters I was not expecting to
see in this movie. Eric Wareheim's in
this as a loser cop that lives next
door. We got
We got Sergeant Al Powell in the mix. Or
maybe you know him as the other Sergeant
Winslow from Family Matters. Yeah,
Reginald VelJohnson, he has a he has a
role to play. And he always knocks it
out of the park. It was really nice
seeing him. Last but not least, well,
maybe least in this one, we have Michael
Biehn, who, you know, from Terminator
and and things of that ilk. He's in
here, too. He's kind of phoned it in,
though. I wasn't really into his role,
which is a small one, to be sure. Uh
but, since this is a movie about super
soldier zombie creations, we naturally
have to have a German doctor. And that's
where I kind of go back also to the
other film I talked about, Overlord. I
love Overlord. That movie is nasty. It's
violent as all hell. It's really pushing
that R rating. Here, though, it gives us
this tease of that's what we're going to
get, and then it just falls flat, I
thought. I I like really disappointed
with where this movie ended up taking
us. Mainly because it's always at night
in the last act and I'm not huge on
night scenes to begin with. It's just
not as visually poppy in a lot of the
times. And on top of that, there's just
not a lot of creativity. It's It's your
standard [ __ ] Like, oh, the chick finds
a chainsaw or this guy's got a big
mallet. It's all been there, done that
stuff. Now, the stuff that does work are
some of the crazy camera shots. I love
when directors go nuts with the camera,
strapping it to the side of a truck,
seeing that wheel spinning around in the
dirt, mounting it to the top of a
freaking gun as it's moving around like
we're in a game of Call of Duty.
>> [snorts]
>> Actually, you know what? Speaking of
Call of Duty, that's really the design
that I'm getting from these super
soldiers, these three hulking dudes.
They look like skin packs you could
unlock in one of the the battle passes.
There is definitely gore in the movie.
It's rated R. You're going to get see
some blood spraying up, but I noticed a
lot of directors seem to be using it as
a crutch more than a creative choice
nowadays. It's just blood for the sake
of blood and seeing how much they can
pump onto the actress, which
unfortunately now for me is the only way
I can achieve climax. Oh, I know what
else I was going to say. The The feel of
this movie is another pro for sure. And
again, it's a lot more noticeable in the
first 45 minutes. Got a major John
Carpenter vibe from this thing. The
sounds that the synth style The music's
bombastic. It's hitting hard. It's
hitting right. Even the the text
treatment in the introduction gave me
that John Carpenter feel that I love.
So, props for, you know, kind of
emulating that style a little bit. But
then again, we we got to bring it home.
We got to bring it home. And And a lot
of movies these days seem to have a very
fun concept or a simple one and the
execution is solid, but they just cannot
cross the finish line. Onslaught was
entertaining enough. I think it's worthy
of a watch. I don't necessarily think
you need to see it in theaters though.
This is one you could you could watch at
home pretty comfortably and you're not
going to miss much. The whole mother
keeping her daughter safe stick, it it
it doesn't really land in this film,
either. Because, again, the mom is kind
of a garbage person. She's not the most
loving mother you think about when when
dealing with this kid. So, I never
really got that relationship. They felt
estranged the whole time, even when
there is an attempt to make them bond,
it falls kind of flat. And I would say
that's just an overall impression I get
for the film. Very high highs, but then
it it lands with a bit of a dud. Let me
know your thoughts, though. Did you
think this was just fantastic from front
to back? Leave it in the comments below.
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>> [music]
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