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Occupation: Rainfall Review
Image Credit: Saban Films
Loading...Occupation: Rainfall Review
Dan Ewing– Matt Simmons
Temuera Morrison– Peter Bartlett
Daniel Gillies– Wing Commander Hayes
Lawrence Makoare– Garry the Alien
Jet Tranter– Amelia Chambers
Ken Jeong– Bud Miller
Jason Isaacs– Steve the Alien (voice)
David Roberts– Abraham
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by Luke Sparke
Screenplay by Luke Sparke, with additional dialogue by Dale Dye (credited as “Dale Dye USMC) and Felix Williamson
Distributed by Saban Films
Rated R for language and violence
Runtime– 128 minutes
http://www.occupationthemovie.com/
Available on various streaming, digital, and cable platforms including iTunes, Amazon Video, Netflix, Vudu, Comcast, Spectrum, and Cox
Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke and now available on multiple streaming, digital, and cable platforms including Netflix, Amazon Video, iTunes, Spectrum, and more, is the sequel to the sci-fi action flick Occupation that came out in 2018. I didn’t see Occupation when it came out or before I watched Rainfall, which is something I probably should have done because I likely would have understood Rainfall more than I do. That isn’t to say that you can’t go into Rainfall without seeing Occupation and understand it because you most definitely can. I do think I would have been more invested overall in what happens in Rainfall if I knew what the stakes were before Rainfall started/what the whole Occupation movie world is all about. Taken on its own, Occupation: Rainfall is a big special effects laden sci-fi action extravaganza. It’s too long, but there’s enough bombast and cool looking stuff to make the movie watching experience worthwhile.
Occupation: Rainfall takes place two years after the events of Occupation, with what’s left of humanity (well, what’s left of humanity in Australia. I’m going to assume that, for the sake of this sequel, that Australia is the only place left on Earth with a sizeable human population. See, this is why I should have watched Occupation before Occupation: Rainfall) taking on the alien invaders. One of Earth’s last remaining fighters is Matt Simmons (Dan Ewing), who we see leading a commando team in a big land battle against alien forces at the beginning of the movie. The fighting is hellacious and spectacular, with ground and air assaults happening simultaneously. One of Earth’s new military leaders is Wing Commander Hayes (Daniel Gillies), a military man that has a different view of how to conduct the war as compared to people like Abraham (David Roberts) and Amelia (Jet Tranter). Basically, Hayes is all about eliminating the alien invaders by any means necessary, whereas Abraham and Amelia are more about fighting the “bad guy” aliens and learning to live with the aliens that decided to fight alongside humanity (like Gary the Alien, played by Lawrence Makoare). Simmons and guys like Simmons are sort of caught in the middle.
So there’s a big battle between humans and the aliens, a military base in Sydney is destroyed while people try to evacuate (some people manage to escape while others die), and humanity believes it can take out the aliens with something called “Rainfall,” which is in a place called Pine Gap. Now, no one knows exactly what Rainfall is or, if it’s a weapon, if it will work against the aliens, but the humans decide to go find it anyway. So a military group heads towards Pine Gap, stopping along the way to pick up Peter Bartlett (Jango Fett hisself Temuera Morrison), who is some sort of military badass (I’m not entirely sure who he’s supposed to be beyond “an important fighter”).
So what is “Rainfall?” It turns out it is a weapon of sorts, as it’s a part of the asteroid that the aliens sent to Earth millions of years ago and that killed the dinosaurs (it was supposed to kill everything on Earth but it obviously didn’t). The part that’s hidden inside Pine Gap is something that was found and hidden by the U.S. government in Australia. The aliens want it back as they can use it to finish off Earth’s inhabitants. Humanity can use it as a sort of bioweapon against the aliens and Gary is an important part of potentially making that happen. Or something. The last quarter or so of the movie is all about who gets to use Rainfall first.
The first thing you’ll notice about Occupation: Rainfall is the complexity of the special effects. I’m going to assume that the movie didn’t cost hundreds of millions of dollars like a Marvel movie but, holy hooey, it sure looks like it did. The movie features a mix of epic CGI, smaller scale CGI, and physical effects and they all look tremendous. They also all seamlessly blend together and it can be difficult to tell what is CGI and what isn’t up close. Writer/director Sparke and his special effects team clearly spent a lot of time creating the Occupation cinematic world. My favorite aspect of the effects is how they all make everything look “lived in,” even the space alien stuff. Even after the popularity and influence of Star Wars you still don’t see that kind of thing enough.
Occupation: Rainfall is also chock full of action, with gun battles and explosions galore. The human and alien technology and hardware is nothing short of impressive. Some of the sound choices are a little iffy at times, but that may just be my experience watching it. I’d imagine that if you saw this movie in a proper movie theatre or if you had a killer home sound system that Rainfall would be a mesmerizing movie sound experience. Maybe I need to turn the sound up super loud?
The performances are all good, but I feel as though that if I knew more about the world and the situation ahead of time I would have connected more with the characters. Dan Ewing is pretty cool as Matt Simmons, the lead human commando. Simmons is a sort of “typical” character for this kind of movie but Ewing has just the right kind of screen charisma to make Simmons “more” than that. Daniel Gilles is a fantastic prick as Wing Commander Hayes. You don’t like him at all but you totally understand where he’s coming from (he wants the aliens dead and humanity to survive). Lawrence Makoare is fascinating as Garry the Alien because he’s a good guy but most of the humans around him don’t like him (he’s the recipient of some serious ball busting). Jet Tranter is great as Amelia Chambers, the woman that just wants peace and understanding. She has no great love for the aliens killing people, but she has no ill will towards the aliens that, just like her, want peace and understanding. And Temuera Morrison, even though I don’t fully understand who he is supposed to be in this movie, is awesome anyway. His screen presence is just cinematic magic.
And then there’s Ken Jeong as Bud Miller, the guy that’s in charge of the Pine Gap base. Jeong is funny and adds an odd energy to the movie, but at the same time I’m not sure he necessarily fits in with the rest of the cast. It’s almost like there should be a movie all about Bud and his alien friend Steve (voiced by Jason Isaacs) as they stand watch over the Rainfall weapon. It would be like a messed up workplace comedy where a human and an alien have to share an office. I bet that would be a hoot.
The amount of swearing in this movie is weird. I don’t think I’ve ever heard as many F bombs in a big hooha special effects movie as I heard in Occupation: Rainfall. You just don’t expect to hear that much cussing in a movie that is trying to reach a wide, mainstream audience. But then there’s a chance that the amount of swearing in the movie is no big deal in Australia. I don’t know. I mean, I’m fine with it, but, again, it’s just something I didn’t expect.
Occupation: Rainfall ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and the promise of another Occupation sequel, which I’m totally for. I’m not sure I like the potential title (Rainfall: Chapter 2) but I’ll get over it. I know that I now have to track down Occupation, experience that, and then watch Rainfall again so I can get into the full Occupation mindset. I just know that there are things I don’t understand about Rainfall that I would get if I saw the first movie. Rainfall, on its own, is worth seeing for the spectacle alone. So do that or see both and prepare for more Occupation. Occupation: Rainfall is worth your time.
See Occupation: Rainfall. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: Thousands, maybe millions?
Explosions: Several, both large and small
Nudity?: None.
Doobage:Radio distress calls, space, a satellite, alien mothership hooey, alien drone hooey, mass destruction and devastation, multiple explosions, laser hooey, cigarette lighting, jet fighter hooey, attempted alien Kim Richards, middle finger hooey, exploding alien ship, awkward head shaking, a big meeting, big lizard horse alien creatures, serious special effects hooey, multiple F words, an underground military base that’s like a city, alien ground weaponry, exploding hover vehicle, double barrel shotgun hooey, a sad story about a nurse, chocolate, a metal slide, alien prisoners, a beating, an alien beatdown, a brief standoff, an alien with a mustache, multiple big battles, multiple alien machetes to the head, exploding push cart, laser blast to the head with exploding alien head, a poison gas attack, a vortex or something, and the promise of a part 3.
Kim Richards? Most likely off screen.
Gratuitous: Ken Jeong, mass destruction and devastation, Australia, Invasion Day 831, talk of Garrett, a woman punching a heavy bag, special effects hooey, a verbal takedown of disco music for some reason, Temuera Morrison, waterboarding, alien thumbs up, a public domain 3 Stooges short, the voice of Jason Isaacs, and the promise of a part 3.
Best lines: “The fox is in the henhouse,” “Take them out! Traitors!,” “It’s a kid. Just a kid,” “No, what we need is everything we’ve got to keep the grays from winning this fucking war!,” “No fucking way,” “Convoy! Start it up!,” “If we leave, they’re dead,” “Whatever makes you happy, Garry,” “Hey! Fucking Garry,” “Boner pill?,” “Where is Rainfall?,” “She saved your life. No. She forgave me,” “I’m sorry, Peter, you leave us no choice,” “So, who is with me?,” “You can’t eat pistachios, Steve!,” “Hey, Garry, there can be only one,” “You cannot win,” “I feel like General Custer here, guys,” “My God, how’d you do that?,” “Wow, man, you guys are intense,” “Steve, stay cool,” “Stampede!,” and “Isn’t that what you want? To die for your little fucking cause?”
