Director Martin Holland’s sci-fi action flick ‘Displaced’ caught me by surprise. It’s one of those films that make it difficult to be a critic. I didn’t particularly enjoy the film, but I was impressed by the amount of work that was put into making it.

The film opens with a narration by Ian McKellen, which tells the story of two alien siblings on a mission to rescue their father and regain a secret file being held by an underground militant outfit called Core. One of the alien siblings gets killed right away leaving her brother Stel (Mark Strange) with the task of finding the file and their father alone. Stel, however is not alone for long, he teams up with Private John Marrettie (Malcolm Hankey) and the two of them set out to save the world’I think.

I found the story a little confusing at times and much of the dialogue didn’t seem natural. Some of the unnatural dialogue could be attributed to inexperienced actors, but either way it made for a confusing storyline. The fight sequences were very impressive and the amount of extras used in such a low budget flick was as well.

For a first time director Holland did a fine job. It was very apparent from the first frame that a lot of work went into this film, and directing such a huge cast is no small feat. The cinematography was average for a flick at this budget level and the sound design was decent. Malcolm Hankey did a good job playing the soldier that knew too much and was a convincing leading man, but some of the other actors didn’t quite hit their marks. The locations weren’t bad but the film would have benefited from a fancier base camp for Core.

I can’t wait to see what Holland does next because there is no doubt that he has the talent and perseverance it takes to succeed. Put ‘Displaced’ in your rental queue because while it’s not quite a killer film it is worth watching.