Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis of the plot and my opinions at the very end.
Synopsis
In the year 2556, humanity is at a ceasefire with a religious multi-species alien group known as the "Covenant". A covert team of ONI agents (Office of Naval Intelligence), led by Jameson Locke, is sent by the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) to investigate Covenant activity on the backwater planet Sedra. The team discovers a Sangheili alien with what they assume to be a bomb. The "bomb" detonates in a crowded shopping mall, but turns out instead to be a biological weapon that only affects humans.
The CGI is passable but not realistic enough to be believable.
Jameson believes the attack was to test a prototype, that if successful, would be deployed on larger populations on strategically important planets. The team inspects a tug (a type of spacecraft used for towing) that they believe was used to transport the weapon and apprehended the driver - a Yonhet alien named Axl. Jameson and Colonel Randall Aiken play "good cop/bad cop" to get Axl to admit to his crimes; explaining that he is a middle man, collecting elements from places no one else is willing to visit. The tug's position tracking confirms Axl's statement by pointing to "Installation 04" - a Halo ring that was destroyed. Temperatures on the surface of the Halo debris reach 900°F (482°C) during the day and visiting what remains of the ring would violate the human-Covenant peace treaty. However, the ONI team is given a D81-LRT Condor (spaceship) with orders to land at night in order to follow a new tug ship seen landing recently.
The team follows a set of tracks from the tug ship to an underground tunnel where they capture two Aleria human smugglers - Arris Le and Haisal Wari, and their pack horses. Before they can board the Condor ship, it is disabled by a colonial-Thanolekgolo worm which then turns on the group, forcing them to flee through a canyon. The worms are avoided when the smugglers instruct everyone to power down their gear because the worms are drawn to it. Now, with no way to request a rescue ship and only three hours until the sun rises, the team decides to retrieve a nuke from the crashed Condor to destroy the element deposits, much to the smuggler's dismay as it would leave them with no way to feed their families. The group would then proceed to the smugglers tug ship, which can only carry two passengers.
"These people do not know how to react, Brother. So reliant on their technology, they wouldn't even know what to do without it, would they? Maybe that will be the thing that kills you." -Arris Le
During the long trek, the ONI team loose' one of theirs - Samantha
Wisner, to the worms. In an attempt to lure the worms away, ONI member
Michael Bradley Horrigan, throws Haisal down a hill into a worm swarm.
Later, while crossing a gorge, Gregory Aio Ramos goes crazy while
thinking about his kids and pushes Alistair Bov Estrin off a ledge,
killing him. Michael then teams up with Gregory to steal all the
remaining guns and supplies for themselves before setting off for the
tug with Haisal as a hostage.
The remaining three survivors -
Jameson, Randall Aiken, and Talitha Macer reach the Condor. Randall
volunteers to set off the nuke while the other two use what fuel remains
in the Condor to beat the deserters to the tug. In a race to the tug,
Michael assaults Gregory and then guns down Haisal when he attempts to
start the tug. The gunfire draws in worms that consume Michael and
Gregory, giving Jameson and Talitha time to escape in the ship.
"When people get scared, they get tribal. Trust their own before the 'other'." -Randall Aiken
Final Thoughts
Nightfall is an easy to follow, standalone side-story in the Halo universe. The production value overall is better than expected for a promotional product with relatively convincing costumes and acting, but the storyline is a bit basic. The characters and plot aren't bad necessarily, they're just average, and missing that je ne sais quoi to win over a general audience. It reminded me a lot of the Riddick movie series on account of having a wary-group of people traveling together at night to avoid the scorching heat of day (The Chronicles of Riddick), all the while pursued by blind creatures that pressure the group into turning on each other (Pitch Black). The Nightfall writing also relies heavily on prior knowledge of the Halo universe, so anyone lacking context from the video games likely wont understand how the Halo ring was discovered, why the buyer of the element wasn't more of a priority, or why two members of the team didn't just use the smuggler ship to get help first and then blow up the ring at a later date. It's the type of adaptation that is interesting enough to hold my attention, but I wouldn't watch it again or recommend it to anyone who isn't already a Halo fan.
Halo Movies: How enjoyable are they to watch? (left to right; best to worst)
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