Office Invasion (2022)

 

 
Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Office Invasion (2022)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Length: 1h 52min
Rating: TV-MA
Production/Distribution: Motion Story, Netflix Worldwide Entertainment
Directors: Gareth Crocker, Fred Wolmarans
Writer: Gareth Crocker
Actors: Rea Rangaka, Kiroshan Naidoo, Sechaba Ramphele, Greg Viljoen, Stevel Marc, Aimee Ntuli, Desmond Dube, El Vanneme-Bekink, Kenneth Fok, Bonko Khoza, Ayanda Dyantyi, Daniel Janks, Claudine Ullman, Neels Clasen, Katlego Mohoaduba, Sherldon Marema, Roberto Pombo, Kate Liquorish, Kabomo Vilakazi, Marcus Mabusela, Kanyi Nokwe, Stephanie Hough, Khabonina Qubeka, Motsi Tekateka, Aubrey Mogale, Shadi Chauke, Kylie Fisher, Jack Devnarain, Sabelo Ndumo, Peter Ucko, Luthuli Dlamini, Bevan Cullinan, Ayanda Diyanti
 
IMDb Blurb: Three best friends band together to defend their valuable mining company from monstrous aliens looking to plunder and exterminate.

 

Cat’s Point of View:
Office Invasion offered one of those rare opportunities where I could go into a movie experience almost completely “blind.” I hadn’t heard of this film before, I didn’t recognize any of the cast or production team, and I hadn’t seen the trailer before. I read the IMDb description to my daughter to see if she was down for watching with me, and that’s it.
 
Based on that simple sentence, it gave the general impression of a mash-up between something like Office Space (1999) and Bloodsucking Bastards (2015). Of course, there would be differences due to alien monsters instead of vampires, and the mining company setting rather than a generic office building.

 

If not for the first scene of the movie and the poster shown on IMDb and Netflix while selecting the film for viewing, I would have wondered if this was supposed to be more like Horrible Bosses (2011). Maybe the word “alien” was being used in the loose sense, meaning that the people taking over the company were from somewhere overseas? I was so confused.
 
After that initial scene, there wasn’t a single whiff of extraterrestrials or even any sci-fi elements for the majority of the production. I had nearly written it all off until the very last act finally delivered. I appreciated what character development was present. I just wish that Office Invasion didn’t spend so long doing that and developing motive before getting to the meat of what made this an action and sci-fi story.

 
That aside, Office Invasion somewhat worked as a corporate office comedy. The horrible cost-cutting solutions were generally amusing, among the other few laugh-worthy situations. Over all, I just didn’t quite laugh as hard as I did with any of the 3 prior topically relevant films I mentioned.
 
Where the sci-fi elements were concerned, I don’t feel like Office Invasion leaned in hard enough. The effects for what they did show were decent. The story just seemed to be lacking. It probably didn’t help that I just recently began re-watching the new series of Doctor Who (2005-) with my daughter. There’s an episode in Season 1 that immediately came to mind while watching Office Invasion. Unfortunately, this movie paled in comparison to even that series’ occasionally hokey effects.
 
That said, Office Invasion was decent. It stays right in the middle lane and is neither horrible nor fantastic. If I wasn’t such a huge sci-fi fan, I might not have been quite as disappointed for how little of that genre was present on-screen. I don’t think anyone watching would necessarily be angry for the choice, but I am not sure that I’ll remember Office Invasion in the long run.

 
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.0/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5
 
Movie Trailer: