Science fiction films can be intriguing with a good premise to hook audiences, but the execution is the real test to see if it clicks. 65 has a good concept that is great on paper, but it ultimately does suffer in many ways. Not to say that it wasn’t an enjoyable film because it does make a great popcorn action flick. However, it does come up short and leaves a lot to be desired on first viewing. It is quite a shame since the writers from the box office hit A Quiet Place is tackling this project as directors with Adam Driver being a star vehicle as well as a producer.
In 65, Adam Driver plays a pilot named Mills who ends up crashing on an uncharted planet filled with passengers on a space mission. As the only survivor on the vessel, Mills soon finds out that he is actually on Earth during the Prehistoric Era, which is about 65 million years ago. On his trek across this unfamiliar territory, he finds a young survivor named Koa, played by Ariana Greenblatt. Together walking through dangerous territory filled with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, both Mills and Koa must find ways to survive to find a way off the planet and back home.
The way this film is shot is nothing short of stunning. There is a lot of futuristic technology is used in the film by Mills, showing how both the future and the past collide as he shoots many prehistoric beasts to get to his ship. There are a couple of dinosaurs that audiences will be familiar with, like the T-Rex that provide some amazing action set pieces as Mills and Koa attempt to escape and survive with their lives. It does come out as derivative as these main characters are always in the same situation where dinosaurs are after them and they must pull through to fight past these creatures in a hostile environment. As they trek across this barren planet, they explore a rainforest, caves, waterfalls, and beaches that often feel very epic in scale.
There isn’t much dialogue in the film, which is a tough task to accomplish in a sci-fi action movie. We see the seriousness of Adam Driver’s character Mills, so it’s difficult to have that human connection with him when his personality is mostly dry. Mills also has to interact with Koa, a character that doesn’t speak English and must find ways to communicate to survive. Despite some funny and tender moments, there isn’t enough chemistry between the only two leads in the film. Koa is used as more of a familial connection to Mills as he has lost his daughter Nevine (Chloe Coleman). It is a storyline that has been told before with a person missing their child and projecting that onto another child that person travels with. The problem is there isn’t enough time to explore that when they are constantly running away from danger to stay safe.
The premise of 65 is an intriguing one by The Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who take a chance at the director’s chair to helm this sci-fi flick. Even if the story is good, it needs to follow through for the entire runtime, which 65 tries and fails to do. Several plot lines in the story are explored but never resolved. There are parts where some choices that Mills makes can lead to some dire consequences, but it is never brought up again and completely ignored without any sort of resolution. It is perhaps the frustrating thing that audiences will realize once the movie is over. If anyone is looking for nothing but action, they might find some entertainment value in that here, but if someone wants to be invested in the story, they may be disappointed in what they see.
Once the last act kicks in, it feels very rushed. For a film that has a 90-minute runtime, it does drag in some places when no action takes place and focuses more on the growing bond between Mills and Koa. It is hard to buy their relationship akin to a father and daughter when we don’t spend a lot of time with the only child that Mills had in his life. There are some sweet and tender moments with Nevine, but more of her could’ve been utilized to create that bond we see in the film with our two leads. The musical score does help build the tension when it needs to, which is perhaps one of the things that the film does so well. When it comes to emotion, that is something the film often lacks.
65 isn’t a perfect film by any means, but it does deliver some fun action-packed entertainment out of Adam Driver fighting against dinosaurs. If that is something audiences would like to see, it might be worth their time. The film’s conclusion may be slightly underwhelming but it does give what viewers want to see in a sci-fi movie of this scale. It’s a simple premise that delivers on it to give an entertaining story of man versus beast. There are definitively some odd moments that don’t necessarily fit, but it’s a decent attempt to give a story with action and some heart.
65 is now playing in theaters.
