Invader From Planet X is a flawed but fun love letter to the simple sci-fi stories of old. The film stars Shannon Howell as Officer Reed, an intergalactic bounty hunter chasing Zorg, an escaped prison convict portrayed by R. Ashad Shelton. As Zorg begins to wreak havoc on Earth, Reed must find and confront the dangerous prisoner and prevent him from causing any more harm before it’s too late.
Arguably, the most impressive thing in Invader From Planet X is its CGI and costume design; despite its limited resources, the shots of space look excellent, and Zorg’s creature design looks just human enough to appear familiar, while just foreign enough to elicit a sense of unease. The film makes the most of its limited runtime, refusing to let up and giving audiences a concise narrative in just under 11 minutes, though it could benefit from a few extra minutes of screentime to flesh its characters out just a little more.
“Zorg’s creature design looks just human enough to appear familiar, while just foreign enough to elicit a sense of unease.”
The biggest shortcoming of the film lies in its cinematography; camera angles rotate from horizontal to vertical shots on a whim, making for extremely poor cuts and transitions in the film that take you right out of the immersion. While the incorporation of comic panels on the side of the frame in the third act does add a unique element rarely seen in films, it isn’t quite done cohesively enough in Invader From Planet X to make it work.
Despite its shortcomings, Invader From Planet X is a clear homage to the easy, bite-sized science fiction you’d find in a pulp magazine, and I can’t help but smile at the care and passion of director Jonathan Martin-Ives. What it lacks in substance, it makes up for in heart.
"… makes the most of its limited runtime, refusing to let up..."
