Occupation  ★★½

EVER wondered what an Alien invasion of an Australian Rules Football game would look like?

I haven’t either, but there’s one depicted in the 2018 Australian science-fiction/action film Occupation.

And that’s the nub of the problem with this film.

If you’re going to attempt a home-grown cross between Independence Day and Red Dawn go for broke.

The film-makers go to a lot of trouble creating effects and, within their budget constraints, they’re not bad.

So why not show the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge being attacked and destroyed?

As it is, with the concentration on a small town, there is little new on hand for audiences, either local or international.

We also never get an idea of the scale of the invasion across the nation, which reduces the impact.

The director and co-writer, Luke Sparke, made Red Billabong in 2016. It’s an outback monster movie but I haven’t seen it and don’t know anyone who has.

Occupation is ultimately an average effort, which is a shame considering the fact it aims high.

We follow a group of townspeople who evade death or capture during the initial alien invasion.

Thet take to the hills, somehow avoid detection from alien spaceships and ground patrols, gradually learn the aliens’ weaknesses and mount a series of guerilla attacks.

Yes, it’s basically Red Dawn with aliens replacing Russians and lazily hits all the familiar beats, minus the full-on American style patriotism – although somebody is holding an Australian flag near the end.

The cast is okay, headed by Dan Ewing, another Home and Away alumni, and Temeura Morrison who has had a successful but uninspiring run of performances since his stunning debut in 1994’s Once Were Warriors.

I can’t say I was disappointed by Occupation because I wasn’t expecting much and it delivered that.

Having said that, the film does have a great marketing effort behind it and a sequel is apparently already being filmed.

So what do I know, hey?