[yasr_overall_rating]
While investigating terrorist activity on the distant colony world of Sedra, Jameson Locke and his team are caught in a horrific biological attack that exposes them to a much deeper danger.
I’ll admit straight up: I was never a fan of the ‘Halo’ video games. My nephew and my sister would play them all the time and the few times I joined in, I just couldn’t get into it. I’m more of a ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Dead Island’ kind of gamer and while the ‘Halo’ games looked good and obviously had a huge following, they just didn’t appeal to me. When director Peter Jackson expressed an interest in making a big-budget movie based on the game a few years back, I know every ‘Halo’ gamer’s dream seemed to come true but the project quickly fell apart and has had no signs of resuscitation since.
In the interim however, Microsoft Studios have produced “Halo: Nightfall,” a solid, well-made action film that manages to give a lot of big-budget studio movies a run for their money. Set in the 26th century, there is now peace between mankind and the fanatical alien race known as the Covenant. The Office of Naval Intelligence, or “ONI,” land on one of earth’s outer colonies known as Sedra, led by Locke (Mike Colter), where they are investigating possible terrorist activity by the Covenant and when one of them detonates a bomb in a public place, it is an explosive unlike any other they have ever encountered.
After examining the remnants of the device, they realize that some of the components came from the now decimated Alpha Halo ring, the weapon that Master Chief destroyed and that the Covenant are retrieving said components from that location with plans to build an even bigger bomb with the intent of using it on a much more populated area. Locke and his team must become allies with the Sedrans and together, try to put a stop to the Covenant’s plans to wipe out all of humanity and any other species who stand in their way. “Halo: Nightfall” may not be the most original film out there but it is enjoyable.
Once the ship carrying our heroes crashlands on the ring, the team must not only try to stop the Covenant but must also try to survive each other as they make their way to a spaceship that can only carry a maximum of two people. At times, the movie shadows “Pitch Black” and numerous other similar-themed films where a ragtag group of people must brave the elements, unfriendly extraterrestrials and each other in order to survive. The movie is executive produced by Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Prometheus”) and director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan cleverly throws in plenty of references to those movies.
At some point, I imagine a big-time filmmaker will give the fans of the video games a real treat and do them justice with a big-screen adaptation but until that time, I would recommend “Halo: Nightfall” to fill the void. Believe me, as someone who was not a fan of the games, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Available on DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Download and VOD March 17th
