We are all familiar with the time-loop film at this point.
Groundhog Day is such a prime example that it has become a descriptor of the
situation. If you feel like things are repeating you would probably call it a
Groundhog Day situation. Palm Springs
used the method to great success last year and now Hulu has a second time-loop
movie, this one an action flick rather than a rom-com.
Boss Level immediately drops you into the action with Roy
Pulver who is repeating a day where multiple assassins are after him. We join as he is already more than 100 days
into the loop. Each time he is killed, the day restarts. He has begun to work
out how to avoid each of the assassins and is starting to make progress on who
or what caused this situation to come up with a plan on how to get it to stop. Each
time he makes it a little further through the day, comparing it to working
through a video game, restarting with each death hoping to eventually make it
through to the final stage, meeting and beating the boss – hence the Boss Level,
very clever. And relatable, if you’ve ever been stuck on a boss level for what feels
like forever.
Roy eventually realizes it has something to do with his ex,
Dr. Jemma Wells. She is working on a top-secret project for Colonel Clive
Ventor who seems to be private security company executive? Jemma, knowing things were about to go very
bad (end of the world bad), met with Roy yesterday (which for Roy feels like
several months ago) and set him up for this loop. Now, Roy needs to figure out
how, why, and what to do to stop it, all while learning the patterns and
tactics of each one of the many killers after him and finding time to bond with
his son.
The movie is directed by Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) who first worked with Frank Grillo in The Grey in 2011. He wanted to make this movie with Grillo then, but studios had no interest in making the movie with a relative unknown in the lead. Now, after Grillo is best known as the MCU’s Crossbones (despite multiple other credits) the movie finally came to be and thank goodness Carnahan waited until he could do it with Grillo. Grillo is a fantastic lead in a picture like this, custom made for him – he feels completely genuine and at ease as Roy. He is tough and brutal, while still managing to be charming and engaging. Casting his real-life son, Rio, as his son in the movie gives added chemistry to the scenes of them reconnecting. Grillo and his 3% body fat carry the movie, nearly every other actor in it is a cameo-level appearance.
Naomi Watts gets to rattle off the science mumbo-jumbo as Jemma and does a fine job. It’s not worth spending too much time thinking about the science here, just trust that it is sound and focus on the action.
Seeing Will Sasso as Brett, Ventor’s head of security, was an absolute delight. And since small doses of Mel Gibson are all I can handle, he was fine as Ventor. Honestly, he’s exceptional as a villain and should really only be playing bad guys. Although, I do spend time wondering who could have replaced him and I think Carl Weathers would have been a good choice.
Sheaun McKinney, Michelle Yeoh, and Ken Jeong all briefly appear as allies Roy meets along the way. Michelle Yeoh (always incredible) was perfectly placed as the sword expert that Roy takes lessons from in an interesting parallel of the piano lessons from Groundhog Day.
The group of assassins range from insane to hilarious including Annabelle Wallis, Meadow Williams, Armida Lopez, Buster Reeves, Eric Etebari, Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans, and a very random Rob Gronkowski appearance.
The standout was Selina Lo as Guan Yin, mostly because she kills Roy multiple times and states her name each time. This seems like a sound operating mentality and makes me wonder if I should be doing that more often – it is certainly memorable.
Overall, the movie is a fast-paced fun action movie that is perfect for popcorn-fueled couch viewing. Be forewarned that it is a hard R – the assassins do kill Frank brutally and graphically over and over (falling, exploding, shot, beheading, etc.) so make sure the kids are in bed before you start streaming this one.
9 out of 10 – so much fun. I am Jeanette Ward and Jeanette
Ward has written this. Maybe Guan Yin was on to something!
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