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| Images courtesy Bron Creative |
When two human-like beings from another planet set down on Earth, 65 million years in the past, all hell breaks loose in a feature film that plays like a video game blended with a tension laced survivalist thriller armed with handheld explosives, interplanetary travel, and sleek looking laser guns. What’s not to like? And when did we forget to leave realism at the door? It’s okay to like things that we might ultimately think are big and dumb but provide escape from the real world.
This latest Adam Driver science fiction vehicle isn’t going to win any awards for originality but it is a surefire way to have some fun in the theater. Although the script could have used some major rewrites and a little more added excitement, sometimes a more barebones approach can work. 65 succeeds at creating a premise we haven’t seen twenty times over but does fail in its human elements. The relationship between Driver and his young companion feel a bit too forced and contrived at the cost of much needed character arc. Yet, Driver does such a great job with whatever material he’s handed that the two directors of this movie should be thanking him for saving them from a definite career Armageddon.
All the time, we hear movie fans and critics complaining that we never get anything different. Well here it is. Who could have imagined an Oscar nominated actor leading a flick about two survivors battling against a mix of raptors and a bevy of ginormous T-Rexes?
65 fluidly blends story points from Planet of the Apes, Turok, and numerous other genre games and movies into one mind numbing action film that is strictly here to entertain us. Leaving all greater messages at the door, 65 is just a silly delight that doesn’t take itself seriously at all. It’s like The Last of Us traded in mushroom zombies for dinos with a grumpy Adam Driver leading the way across prehistoric earth. Let’s face it. Driver can make anything watchable. He demands your attention even when he’s oddly bored with the material he’s been given. As escapist cinema, 65 is exactly what it’s supposed to be.
The pair traverse a doomed landscape seeking redemption aboard an escape pod that will take them to safety with their people. I might end up being the only one that gives this thing a mildly positive review. But among the dregs of winter and a schedule that’s overloaded with comic book movies and known properties, 65 was a small piece of hybrid action/sci-fi that’s rightfully placed in its theatrical window. Some of the green screen work is abysmal and there aren’t enough interactions with the blood thirsty dinosaurs. And they never feel like a true threat against Driver's futuristic heavy artillery. But overall, I had a bit of a blast with this one.
If anything can be said about Driver, the man is certainly committed to his roles and makes diverse choices in what he does. See this one for his skill set. Stay for some explosions and mayhem. It’s okay to not be perfect sometimes. After all, all movies can’t be Howard the Duck.
-CG