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“An astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet only to discover he’s not alone.” Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan WoodsWriters: Scott Beck, Bryan WoodsStaring: Adam Driver, Ariana Geeblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika […]
“An astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet only to discover he’s not alone.”
Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Writers: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Staring: Adam Driver, Ariana Geeblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King
Release Date: March 10, 2023
IMDB
I did not expect the world for 65 (2023), but I did expect to be entertained. Was that too much to ask for? Adam Driver’s attempt at a one-man action science-fiction thriller falls flat in many ways. The action itself does not have a gravitational pull to keep the viewers interested, and the story and characters (which are second-fiddle by nature of the type of movie) are nothing more than plug-ins on an old call board.
65 is a genre movie that doesn’t have a grasp of what makes the genre movies its modeling itself after great. It is a sad, disappointing and regrettably boring 90 minute terra-based survivors story.
Set millions of years in the past, there is an opening crawl that explains that there are other human life-like societies that are exploring the galaxy. Mills (Adam Driver) is a loving husband and a loving father to his sick daughter. His occupation as a space pilot takes him away from his family more than he would like, and this results in emotional baggage. During a two-year expedition, Mills’s daughter Nevine (Chloe Coleman) passes away, creating a hardened man with a surly look on life.
The main story of 65 begins after Nevine’s death announces itself when a random asteroid belt strikes Mills’s ship and sends it careening towards an unknown planet. Mills, being the only one not in cryo sleep because he is the pilot, attempts to land the ship safely in order to save all passengers. Turns out that the damage to the hull is too severe and the tragic explosive result of the crash is that Mills is the only survivor. Or so he thinks.
Mills runs some geographic diagnostics and finds out that he is on a planet called “Earth.” While exploring the land and looking for a possibly intact escape pod vessel, Mills comes across an undamaged cryo pod. Within this life preserving device is a young girl named Koa. Mills and Koa do not speak the same language, but the pair develop their own way of communicating as they trek towards a means of escape. Koa reminds Mills of his daughter, and his fatherly parental instincts take over as bigger and increasingly sharp-toothed obstacles come between the duo and their only chance for survival.
The jungle is a dangerous place, and it’s filled with lots of things that would like to eat you. Koa and Mills run away from multiple different dinosaurs while taking turns saving each other’s lives. This is where we should be enthralled to see what the next set piece will be. What monster is going to come out of the bushes to try and feast on our two human life forms? This is where 65 fails.
None of the action in this movie looks good. None of it is exciting. Perhaps it is all too CGI based. Perhaps it is the very predictable nature of how the events will play out. Or maybe it’s just a sad fact that this movie had zero momentum from lift off. 65 should be the type of slop that random action movie streaming enthusiasts flock to. 65 should be an easy watch that hovers in the top-10 of Netflix for a random couple weeks and leaves people perplexed.
But it just doesn’t. It just isn’t good. And 65 had a theatrical budget, and it still couldn’t cross the finish line of passable.
65 is directed and written by two individuals, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The men have been working well together for over a decade now. They have impressive writing credits to their name, most significantly A Quiet Place (2018). The pair have already had a second movie come out in 2023 with The Boogeyman, which has been better received than 65. From what can be gathered by a lament man browsing their IMDB filmography, both Beck and Woods have had better success with horror than action, and their next movie is Heretic which looks to be in the scary realm.
The interesting discussion point from 65 is its star Adam Driver. The man is a great actor. No if-ands-or-buts. Driver has the ability to elevate a movie from nothing, but his presence in 65 did nothing more than make it look like even more of a fumble. Driver has had a bit of an interesting last four years.
In 2019 he had the critically acclaimed and award-worthy Marriage Story, followed up by the absolutely atrocious pile of fanfare dog shit that is Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise Of Skywalker (2019). In 2021 he had Annette, which I have not seen, followed by two major projects with Ridley Scott that didn’t amount to nearly as much pub as expected. The Last Duel (2021) is a very good movie but made absolutely no money at the box office. Then there was the very bloated House Of Gucci (2021) which also fell short of expectations.
My man Driver is in need of a win, but in 2022 his only movie was White Noise which is based off a very popular book and was directed by Noah Baumback. Despite both those things going for it, White Noise left no societal impact. And now there is 65, which may be objectively the most boring movie he has made.
Under the upcoming category of Driver’s IMDB there are three projects, all of which should get people’s attention. Driver is rumored to be part of Heat 2. Driver is playing a major role in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megapolis, which is absolutely going to be a conversation starter seeing as how it’s the five-time Oscar winner’s first movie since 2016. Adn there there is Ferrari, where Driver is playing the biographical part of car entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari in a Michael Mann Production.
So Driver has a Coppolla and two Mann projects on his release schedule. We have that to look forward to.
No one should look forward to watching 65. If you do want to watch it, 65 is available on Netflix.
STANKO RATING: D-
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