Blasted

3 / 10

An alien force invading the Norwegian region Hessdalen, a game of paintball to kick a party into high gear and a laser tag duo resisting waves of mind-controlled villagers – three ingredients which scream non-stop action, but director Martin Sofiedal somehow manages to make his sci-fi action comedy called Blasted look very lethargic and tedious during its near 2 hour-long runtime. The story centers around the unhappy advertiser Seb (Axel Bøyum) who wants to impress his customer and hedgefonds manager Kasper with a weekend trip – disguised as a stag party with 4 other friends – after his terrible, spontaneous pitch. But the trip quickly goes off the rails as they encounter alien humans with glowing green eyes – which look even more unspectacular than the zombie horde from All of us are dead – at an abandoned ranch of the affected region.

Blasted is unexpectedly slow, because it constantly throws in dialogue-heavy segments with dull characters in between action sequences and tries to keep up the entertainment by juggling with three storylines. Sofiedal’s approach comes off as overambitious and unnecessary due to the overall comedic presentation, the constant bad vibes from Seb during the first hour tarnishing the atmosphere and the forgettable mentioning of other films. As soon as the protagonist shakes off his ego and the light-driven weapons enter the stage, the comedy and action feel way more entertaining, especially when the laser pistol is hilariously utilized to scan suspicious people.

Strangely enough, the beams from the laser pistols shine a light on the uninteresting character expositions which drag the story for way too long. A less serious treatment of the slapstick ensemble and a condensed plot would have been more enjoyable.

Review published on 29th June 2022.