As an ardent supporter/apologist for the Paranormal Activity franchise, I was very curious to see what writer/director Oren Peli would do next. Rumors of a follow-up started circulating in 2009 - like Paranormal Activity, but with aliens? Sounds iffy, but I knew it would be something I'd watch when I got the chance. But the film just kept getting delayed again and again... and not because the CIA got involved saying the it gave away too many dastardly government secrets (although that would have been a good internet rumor to start, in my opinion). It sounds like the delay was more due to "this movie sucks, we need rewrites and reshoots." So after about six years (production started in Fall of 2009, rewrites in 2011, reshoots in 2013), Area 51 got a limited release in the Spring of 2015. And it just recently popped up on Netflix and Amazon Prime, where I assume a lot of folks like myself who have been not-very-anxiously awaiting the film will check it out.
Like most films that get delayed for long periods of time for rewrites/reshoots, Area 51 just isn't all that good. You kind of know you're in trouble right away, as our three main characters are all pretty bland. They aren't super annoying, but they aren't particularly likable either. They are introduced at a party, where I guess we're supposed to be charmed by their drunken antics, but ultimately you are just kind of biding your time until they get to the alien stuff. Which actually comes about rather quickly. Group leader Reid disappears from the party shortly after being seen creepily standing outside and staring off into space. Darrin and Ben (the other two guys) assume he just went home with some lady, but as they (probably drunk) drive home they almost hit a blank-faced Reid standing in the middle of the street.
Reid can't explain what happened to him that night, but flash forward three months and he's crafted an elaborate scheme to break into Area 51. His buddies decide to go along - Darrin is into the whole dangerous/exciting thing, while Ben has his reservations and ultimately just signs on to be the driver. And while Reid doesn't really have a *reason* to break into Area 51, of course he wants to document the whole thing. (The gist of it is "the world has a right to know what's going on in there!") But really, I think it's just so we can get a found footage movie out of the whole deal. Along with Jelena (a girl Reid met on the internet whose father used to work at Area 51 before his mysterious death), the trio breaks in and things don't go as planned.
It does stretch the credibility of the whole endeavor that these three doofuses can just break into the most secretive military base in all of the world... all with a scant three months of planning at that. But whatever. If they got caught at the border, there wouldn't be much of a movie now, would there.
Ultimately, there's just not really anything to latch onto in Area 51. The suspense just doesn't work the way you hope it would. For a big chunk of the second act, most of the "excitement" comes from our characters sneaking behind corners/desks to evade military personnel - it feels like "Let's Hide From That Guy: The Movie." Paranormal Activity had the benefit of being set in a house - obviously something most people can relate too. A military base? Not so much. Plus, for most of the time, the stakes just aren't all that high. I mean, what's the worst that can happen if the night custodian sees them, you know? He tells on them?
Once they eventually (*spoilers*) get to the Alien level (deep underground - which is apparently where all the crazy stuff happens in Area 51 anyways) there is at least a little tension and some good old found footage scares, but nothing inventive or anything you haven't seen before. It half-works, but it's a case of too little, too late. Plus, the Big Ending (scenes of which you'll see in the trailer) is pretty stupid. Just a big, blank background where Reid and Jelena just kind of float around. It's a pretty weak ending and reeks of something that was probably in the afore mentioned rewrites. (Like the producers thought "something crazy has to happen, right?" But they just couldn't think of something crazy to do, and settled on a bland looking blank white set for their grand finale.)
There just isn't all that much to like about Area 51. The only thing I really enjoyed was early on in the film when the friends break into the house of an Area 51 employee to steal his ID badge. It's too bad that Peli & co. can wring more tension out of a standard B&E than they can from breaking into a crazy military base. And again, I think it has to do with the familiarity of the setting - everyone can relate to being in a house. I can respect Peli for trying to do something a little different, but Area 51 just didn't work for me.
I would not recommend this film.
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