The Shadow Men - Die Alien-Invasion

Saw the last three fourths of this film on TV a while back. While the film isn't all that special, at the least it's a good way to pass the time, especially if you love films about UFOs or alien abductions. It's obvious that the guy who wrote this did some research on the subject, but didn't dig all too deep. It did seem a little cheep that they had scenes of the MIB in black SUVs, a form of vehicle never reported in real life cases.

Not bad, but not excellent either. 2 out of 5 stars.

Overall, I was impressed by a number of things. Good casting, pretty good writing, some fine acting from Fenn, Roberts and Stockwell. The lead MIB was well done indeed! Really captures the heart of MIB lore - these folks really did their research (a rarity with these kinds of films, as you know). It's just too bad that this kind of film doesent deserve a larger budget. I give it a solid B!

It would be interesting to compare this one to Men in Black. (the will smith film.) This was more like what I've heard real life stories of encounters with MIB agents is like. Decent cast, too, with Eric Roberts, Dean Stockwell, and Andrew Prine. Slow and dark at times, but worth the rental if just to satisfy your curiosity. Give it a try.

** 1/2 out of ****

I thought Shadow Men was good, for a direct-to-video flick. Oh sure, the special effects weren't great and there were a few plot holes here and there, but otherwise, it was ok. There was a sort of creepiness about the whole thing. Afterall, would you really want to be chased by the MiB? (And I'm not talking about the light-hearted MiB of Jones and Smith).

It seems not a single person behind-the-scenes on this project strived to make it anything more than passable. That's not to say the film is bad -- it isn't. It's not great either. It's just... *Meh*

There were opportunities in the script for curve balls to be thrown at the audience, but the filmmakers declined. They stuck to the formula, never veered off the path of familiarity, and gave us the plot completely by the numbers. This is the type of movie that you can flip on at any time and not really pay attention, never having to worry if you'll miss any key plot points.

I'm a fan of Eric Roberts and find him enjoyable in even the worst of movies, so having him in the cast definitely helped.

And kudos to the filmmakers for playing off the ridiculously awful alien costumes for realism. They looked awful, but worked in that "so cheesy it's fun" sort of way.