I don’t know that Osiris will convert many new fans, or satisfy those with an eye less forgiving of some of the inherent areas filmmaking on this scale often leaves wanting. Some of the visual effects will look cheesy to some folks, but that’s also part of the charm. Still, the result is pure fun, pulpy B-movie science fiction, complete with largely practical alien suits and nods to all manner of classics. And, of course, the action, regardless of the surrounding decorations, is tight, badass, and plentiful.
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On an ill-defined mission in a vaguely middle eastern country, a team of special forces operators led by Kelly (frequent Kaufman collaborator Max Martini) gets abducted by aliens. As happens. They wake up on a spaceship with no idea where they are, how they got there, or how to get home. Also, they picked up handy new skills somewhere along the way, like how Kelly can now speak Russian, which comes in handy when they meet Ravi (Brianna Hildebrand, Deadpool, Tragedy Girls), a young Russian woman stuck aboard the extraterrestrial craft. Oh yeah, and her mom, Anya, is played by the inimitable Linda Hamilton.
The plot, from Kaufman and co-writer Paul Reichelt, another usual suspect, is thin to say the least. But they smartly drop the viewer into the middle of this scenario, same as the characters, and let us go, figuring things out as the soldiers do. If you can just let go and let it take you, it does enough to pull you through.
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The acting, also, is fine. Martini doesn’t do anything he hasn’t done many times, but he’s good at it, playing the heavy-hearted, world-weary leader watching his team dwindle. It’s fun to see Hamilton pop up in anything, even better if she gets to be a badass with a big gun. And fighting aliens this time instead of killer robots from the future. Everyone else does what they need to do to fill their stock roles well enough. There’s the guy who always blurts out the most obvious thing, a big tough guy who vows to see his family again, we know how that goes, and all the usual military team types.
Again, the action is the centerpiece here, and that’s where the movie is best. Some of the digital effects show the limitations of the budget, but when it comes to the staging, filming, and executing of big, running gun battles, Kaufman and company are on point. Only this time, instead of dudes shooting at dudes, it’s dudes shooting at angry monsters from space. All Kaufman’s usual proclivities are on full display, with his penchant for tactics and hardware at the forefront. He gets to play with some alien tech, too, so that’s neat. The science fiction of it all also gives him the chance to play with elaborate sets and tinker with color palates you don’t usually find in his more grounded, real-world narratives.
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Osiris could easily be a movie you stumble across flipping channels one afternoon, think, this looks interesting, and enjoy well enough. Alternately, you’re searching titles on a streaming service, see the name Linda Hamilton, see a picture of her pointing heavy arms at aliens, and decide to give it a shot. Die-hard action stans and DTV sci-fi aficionados are the obvious core audience, but there’s enough going for it that a fair number of folks should find things to enjoy. And if you're reading this here on this site, I'm willing to be you'll respond favorably what Kaufman and friends put on screen. [Grade: B-]
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