65

This sci-fi action film is decent enough, but it somehow manages to be not nearly as much fun as the premise (a futuristic spaceman vs dinosaurs) should have been.

Premise:  After his spaceship crashes on pre-historic Earth, the pilot Mills (Adam Driver) discovers that only one of his passengers, a young girl called Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), survived.  Facing dangers on every side, the pair must make their way across a valley teaming with dinosaurs if they are to have any chance of survival.

Review:

65 is writing/directing duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods biggest movie so far, no doubt greenlit in part in recognition of their work on the original screenplay for the hugely successful A Quiet Place.  Unfortunately, while there’s plenty to enjoy about 65, it’s also probably best to manage your expectations, as this film is neither as gripping as A Quiet Place nor as much fun as the elevator-pitch premise might suggest.

On the positive side, it has a great cast, and probably more character depth than you may have been expecting.  Adam Driver is as excellent and intense as ever, and he carries the film for the most part (as his is effectively the only main speaking role).  In Adam Driver’s hands, the pilot Mills is a far more nuanced character than the action hero he could have been in another version of this story, and the sparingly used flashbacks (featuring Chloe Coleman, who was also excellent in this year’s Dungeons & Dragons movie) add additional depth to his backstory.

“…Adam Driver & Ariana Greenblatt are both great…”

Meanwhile, Ariana Greenblatt continues to make an impressive name for herself, and after having originally broken through with child roles in the likes of the A Bad Moms Christmas, Avengers: Infinity War and Love and Monsters, 2023 has seen her breakthrough into more teen-oriented roles in this, the Barbie movie, and Star Wars: Ahsoka.  Here she plays Koa, the only other survivor of Mills’ passenger ship – but in an interesting wrinkle, Koa comes from a different culture from Mills and speaks an entirely different language, leaving the two of them unable to communicate.  Ariana Greenblatt does a terrific job playing Koa, in what is essentially a non-speaking role.

Despite the best efforts of Driver and Greenblatt, however, the film never quite manages to sing.  The dinosaur-related action sequences are reasonably well executed, but (no doubt due to budgetary limitations) they fall short of the spectacle that we’ve been conditioned to expect by the Jurassic Park/World films.  Equally, the film never quite manages to find an entirely effective tone – it's often too grim to be a rollicking adventure, but also not tense enough to get you onto the edge of your seat … again, the shadow of Jurassic Park looms large in terms of balancing these potentially contradictory tones.

“…doesn’t have many surprises…”

65 is upfront about the ‘revelation’ that the ‘alien world’ that Mills crashes on is actually pre-historic Earth, 65 million years ago, and so there aren’t any Planet of the Apes-style twists in that regard.  In truth, it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to say that 65 doesn’t have many surprises, focusing on the trials that Mills and Koa have to overcome to get from point A to point B, rather than any particular twisty narrative developments.

That’s not to say that the film isn’t worth a watch – it absolutely is.  Shot largely on location, it rarely feels like it suffers from greenscreen/soundstage limitations, and the production design on Mills’ future tech is quite striking.  Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt are both great, committing completely to the ‘serious’ tone that seems to deliberately avoid the usual action hero movie tropes.  It’s also great to see an original-concept movie from an up-and-coming writing/directing duo, especially given Hollywood’s move away from modestly budgeted original movies in recent years, in favour of massive ‘sure thing’ blockbusters.

“…an enjoyable, tightly-paced 90-minute original movie…”

Overall, although the film never quite feels like it lives us to the promise of its futuristic spaceman vs dinosaurs premise, it’s still an enjoyable, tightly-paced 90-minute original movie that’s worth checking out when you have the chance.