MANKIND’S LAST STAND (2014) aka OUTPOST 37

Mankind's Last Stand, Outpost 37 (2014)
Directed by: Jabbar Raisani
Written by: Blake Clifton, Jabbar Raisani
Starring: Adrian Paul, Brandon Auret, Reiley McClendon

MANKIND’S LAST STAND (2014)
aka OUTPOST 37
Directed by Jabbar Raisani

The year is 2033. Earth has long since been attacked by aliens known as Heavies. Whilst the human race has barely managed to cling on and survive the invasion, the war against the extraterrestrials goes on. Despite departing Earth some years previously, stranded Heavies remain on Earth. Determined to exterminate all the alien species, the military opened outposts with soldiers stationed there to defend the area. Now, years later, outposts have declined in numbers whilst the surviving outposts are vastly under-staffed. A documentary crew head out with three American soldiers to Outpost 37 in Pakistan, a remote base in one of the most hostile environments left. With daily attacks from the Heavies, the soldiers must always be prepared for battle but ongoing fight leads them to discover that the war may not be coming to an end as they had hoped.

Faux documentary sci-fi thriller MANKIND’S LAST STAND, also known as Outpost 37, takes the intimate war drama, such as the likes of Jarhead, and adds an extraterrestrial flavour, wrapped up in a hand-held camera style. Rest assured, this isn’t found footage as such. Much like a documentary, the camera shots are rather steady, even during the more intense moments of action, so those who suffer motion sickness like myself shouldn’t be affected.

Throughout the movie, the “documentary” crew are within the company of the soldiers at Outpost 37, following their every move as they protect the base and patrol the surrounding area. The way the film is presented is tight knit and feels quite realistic as the camera crew often get caught up in the fire fight and react accordingly. They even capture the lighter moments away from the war where the soldiers wind up the new kid, Frankie. The intimate style allows the viewer to feel as though they are there themselves and are part of the team, even during the heat of battle. This is so iomportant with films of this style and they pull it off marvellously.

It takes quite a while before we see the enemies of MANKIND’S LAST STAND – the Heavies –  for the first time and when we do, we don’t get full lingering shots. The actual creature designs aren’t intimidating, especially when they look like Kimahri Ronso out of Final Fantasy X, but their explosive blue laser weapons sure pose a threat to the soldiers. The way in which they attack Outpost 37, by recruiting the civilians, adds an extra layer of danger as no-one can be trusted, not even other humans. This ramps up the tension for both the characters and the viewers as you never know just when the Heavies or their minions will strike.

Although the viewer spends time with each of the characters in MANKIND’S LAST STAND, only a few become memorable. In fact, you could say too much time is spent with all of them instead of focusing on a couple. The charismatic characters of head honcho Spears (Rick Ravanello), medic Wilks (Scott E. Miller), calm and collected Omohundro (Joe Reegan), explosions expert Andros (Reiley McClendon) and fresh-faced Frankie (Sven Ruygrok) are no doubt the main characters of the group but the viewer never really gets to really know them except for Frankie, who’s youth and love of his mother is often the butt of many jokes in the camp. It would have been nice to get more of a backstory with the characters but the film instead focuses on their current life serving in the army.

Whilst this is no District 9, MANKIND’S LAST STAND has a likable, authentic quality for its budget but ultimately suffers from a lack of depth in the plot department. Watching the film, I couldn’t help but yearn for something more as the movie feels as though it’s merely scratching the surface. Decent performances from the cast make for an interesting watch but you may be left a little unfulfilled.

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