A real dino-sized mess from two of the geniuses behind “A Quiet Place”
I hope you don’t forget to bring your I.D. for “Scream VI” or at least take your friend’s advice on “Creed III,” because “65” is one of the worst Sci-Fi movies I have ever seen. It’s a woeful, boring, and completely wasted film that wants to be in the same category as “Jurassic Park,” but lacks the visuals and intelligence. And this was made by filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, two of the geniuses behind the brilliant “A Quiet Place.” Unfortunately, these guys give us nothing fresh or original, just some impressive looking gadgets from the main space traveler, corny dialogue, and cheap plot elements.
The main space traveler is Mills (Adam Driver), who has to leave his ill daughter (Chloe Coleman) and wife (Nika King) behind for an important mission. I have no idea where this guy comes from, but the opening credits explain how many worlds have expanded their horizons through the cosmos before the beginning of time. I’m going to have to assume none of them have heard about dinosaurs if the hero calls them aliens.
He crash lands on Planet Earth “65 Million Years Ago,” because of an astroid field which banged up his ship and killed all of his passengers in their cryogenic chambers. Well, not all of them, because a girl who speaks a different language survives the attack. Her papers say her name is Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), and she barely understands a word Mills is saying. She can only pick ups a few words at a time like “home,” “family,” and typically, “Sh*t.”
I’m looking at some interposing gadgets, but I’m not learning anything about them. If the hero has a device to tell him the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs is colliding with Earth, then why can’t it tell him what these aliens are? Can somebody explain that to me, please. Filmmakers? Anyone in the audience? Anyone who reads my review on Facebook? We’ll circle back.
Driver is one of our best actors. “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Logan Lucky,” “Paterson,” “Silence,” “Marriage Story,” and the list goes on and on. His performance here is exhausting. He seems to be acting like he only agreed to go along with this typical screenplay for the money. He doesn’t seem like he wants to go along with his character nor his generic chemistry with Greenblatt, who can be a likable child actress. These two have no chemistry, and all they do is dodge the dinosaurs, take some breaks, and then dodge the dinosaurs again. There’s not even any truth in them. Even the opening credits can’t clarify their worlds.
I expected better from Beck and Woods, who both helped John Krasinki show some movie magic with “A Quiet Place,” and even “A Quiet Place: Part II.” I guess they’re trying to cater to a certain audience who wants to see futuristic people fighting dinosaurs in the past with all their high tech weaponry and so forth. It actually worked last year in “Prey,” except that was a battle between the Predator and a young Comanche fighter. That was a thrilling piece of entertainment. “65” is dull waste of space.
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