One should know what to expect when watching films from The Asylum. They are not always bad, but they almost always operate with a very limited budget, and it often seems as though they borrow rather heavily from major Hollywood productions in their basic setup. Usually this becomes quite obvious already from their cover art or posters — though not always. In this case, for example, I cannot really trace the artwork to anything other than perhaps Battlefield Earth starring John Travolta, which can hardly be considered a particularly successful blockbuster.
As for the plot in brief: Earth is attacked by aliens. In order to survive at all, a group of humans escapes into space. Some time later — years later, thanks to cryogenic sleep — they awaken and crash-land on a planet that fortunately can sustain human life. Before long, however, they discover that things are not quite as peaceful as they had hoped. The planet has been divided between two species: one aggressive race equipped with technology that renders them invisible to the naked eye, and another submissive group with almost no pigmentation at all. The surviving humans seek an alliance with these pale humanoids in order to overthrow the aggressive rulers.
At this point, I have actually revealed more than I knew myself before starting the film. The only thing I was aware of was that some form of hostile alien would appear on the new planet. In truth, that is more than enough information. Knowing more does not make the film any more interesting. Before long one realizes that there is nothing new to discover here, and even though the cover does not immediately reveal direct connections to other films, it becomes quite obvious that the writers must have spent some time looking at Planet of the Apes. There may be nothing inherently wrong with that, but there are simply too many similarities for it ever to become particularly engaging.
There may also be an attempt at commentary on racism, which one might accept even in a derivative low-budget film, but the execution feels rather clumsy. The plot is extremely two-dimensional and the characters are about as shallow as they come. I have no real interest in whether any of them survive. I simply do not care about them. The acting is poor and the direction is equally uninspired.
The only element I derived any real enjoyment from was an android character who strongly resembles Data from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It would not surprise me in the slightest if the inspiration came directly from there.
