65
65
Starring Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King
Directed by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
65 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the earth, and humanity wasn't even heard of yet. Billions of light years away, however, an advanced civilization has made it a habit of traversing the universe, and one of the pilots is Mills (Adam Driver), who agrees to fly an expedition to pay for his daughter Nevine's (Chloe Coleman) treatment. It seemed like an ordinary expedition, but Mills comes across a cluster of asteroids that sends his ship hurtling toward prehistoric earth, and after crashing finds no one survived - except a nine-year-old girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), who speaks a different language that he cannot understand. While the ship was destroyed on entry, Mills finds the escape pod on another mountain, and takes Koa with him to use the pod to escape. However, they soon discover they're not alone on this strange planet, as different kinds of dinosaurs set out to make them their next meal.
On paper "65" seemed like an amazing concept. A traveler from another universe with advanced weapons and know-how must survive prehistoric apex predator dinosaurs, and find out who wins. Dinosaurs are fierce creatures as long as they're fighting something smaller than them, but what happens when they go for what they think is a pre-dinner snack and gets their heads blown off by a rapid-fire futuristic weapon, or blown to bits by small marble-sized bombs? Would they really be the apex predators then? Sadly, we never find out, as the film is just a repetition of Mills and Koa trying to communicate, traverse the often dinosaur-less landscape, come across some breed of dinosaur, face some light peril, fight back, and move on. Then the cycle repeats itself again, and again. And again, I'm not saying it's bad, because the performances weren't bad, but it was just unnecessary. There could've been a more compelling story being told, but apparently something got lost in the translation.
Whoever could think a movie about fighting off dinosaurs could be boring? It seems that the writers of "65" (who are credited as co-writers of "A Quiet Place," which I can't help but wonder why they're being hailed as expert writers for writing a film about staying quiet, but that's just me)...like Jeff Goldblum's character in "Jurassic Park" said...they, uh, found a way. I guess it makes sense that they co-wrote "A Quiet Place," because like that film, the characters here are oftentimes quiet, with long stretches of silence as they move through the familiar landscape of trees, downed trees, quicksand, and mountainous terrain. Over and over again. Just to get to their escape pod, which of course is on the other end of where they're at, as they sometimes face dinosaurs who want to devour them.
Adam Driver is an excellent actor who finds a way to over-perform in roles like Kylo Ren and in "Marriage Story" where the meme of him hitting a wall was all the rage back in 2020, but here he's incredibly subdued, stoic, and boring. His voice never fluctuates from a mediocre baritone, even when he's talking about his family, getting off the planet, or facing big scary monsters. For him it's a walk in the park - Jurassic Park, if you will - and his whole purpose is to find a means to an end. His young co-star, Ariana Greenblatt (best known as playing young Gamora in "Avengers: Infinity War"), doesn't fare much better, as the writers for some odd reason made her character speak another language that Mills can't understand. This takes away any tension or comradere that the two could've shared otherwise, as she's relegated to repeating words that Mills tells her (like "family," and as we all know, "ohana means family"), and the few moments of wannabe comedy is met with crickets rather than chuckles.
The CGI effects are worse than "Thor: Love & Thunder," and that's saying something. The dinosaurs look either like rejects from "Jurassic Park" or the types of dinosaurs you'd see in a SyFy Original (which this film should've landed in, if not for the acting caliber). They're not intimidating or scary in the slightest, and the director resorts to cheap jump scares to give us some chills. Throw in the typical "clock is ticking" cliche with the impending asteroid coming to wipe out the dinosaurs, and you got a film that's supposed to be exciting and intense, but fails on both ends.
Again, I'm not saying this is a bad movie. Yes, the CGI is bad, and yes, there's no real story to keep you interested, but at least Adam Driver works with what he's got to elevate this to 0.01% higher mediocrity than it should've. This is something to turn on once it comes to streaming while you're doing something else - anything else - than trying to sit and pay attention. Because ninety minutes has never felt so long as sitting through "65."
The Score: C
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