65 movie review 2023

The highly anticipated sci-fi movie “65” promised an adrenaline-fueled action flick with Adam Driver taking on dinosaurs, but unfortunately, the movie falls short of expectations. Despite a reported budget of $91 million and even featuring in a Super Bowl ad, the film fails to impress due to its lack of depth and character development.

The film follows Driver, who plays Mills, a space pilot on a mission to explore the universe to afford medical treatment for his ailing daughter. Along the way, the ship encounters an unexpected asteroid field and crashes, leaving Mills and a young girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) as the only survivors on Earth 65 million years ago.

The film’s premise is intriguing, suggesting that futuristic civilizations existed in the past on planets throughout the universe. However, the movie fails to capitalize on this premise, with both the survival story and the family drama feeling rushed and underdeveloped. The characters lack depth, and the action sequences quickly become repetitive and tedious. The film relies heavily on jump scares, an overbearing score, running, screaming, gnashing of teeth, and injuries before narrow escapes, but this quickly becomes tiresome.

The film’s writing-directing team, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-wrote “A Quiet Place” with John Krasinski, which was a hit horror movie. However, they fail to deliver the same level of thrills and suspense in “65”. The film’s attempts at humor fall flat, and moments of peril wrap up too tidily for the audience to experience anxiety.

The film’s CGI dinosaurs are occasionally startling, but at other times, they look cheesy and fake, like the animatronics at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. The film would have been more entertaining if it had embraced its B-movie roots and leaned harder into the silliness of mixing complex technology with the Cretaceous period. The film missed an opportunity to showcase Mills’ advanced gadgets in imaginative ways within the prehistoric setting.

Adam Driver, known for his intense acting, does not get to showcase his talent in “65”. His character is blandly heroic and generally annoyed, and he fails to ham it up for the audience. Greenblatt, on the other hand, does an excellent job with a character that lacks depth and substance. Koa speaks a language that’s not English, so most of her exchanges with Mills consist of mimicking the basic words he says to her, including “family.” The lack of a bond between the two characters makes it hard for the audience to invest in their survival.

The film's cinematography is impressive in parts, but the editing choices are erratic. The film borrows heavily from the “Jurassic Park” franchise, with a giant footprint in the mud and a dinosaur’s yellow eye leering menacingly through a window. The film's only redeeming feature is its climactic ending, with a combination of a sneaky quicksand patch, a ravenous Tyrannosaurus rex, a well-timed geyser eruption, and a catastrophic asteroid shower. However, by then, it's too late to save the film's lackluster storyline.

In conclusion, “65” failed to deliver on its promise of an exciting sci-fi adventure movie. Despite an intriguing premise and impressive CGI, the film's lack of depth and character development, combined with repetitive action sequences, make it an underwhelming experience. It would have been more entertaining if it had embraced its B-movie roots and leaned into the silliness of the prehistoric setting.

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"65" is a PG-13 rated sci-fi action adventure movie with brief bloody images and intense peril. Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the movie is produced by Sam Raimi, Deborah Liebling, Zainab Azizi, Scott Beck, and Bryan Woods. The original language of the movie is English, and it has a runtime of 1 hour and 33 minutes. It was released in theaters on March 10, 2023, distributed by Columbia Pictures, and has a digital 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital sound mix.

The movie follows the story of Mills, played by Adam Driver, a space pilot who embarks on a two-year exploratory mission to afford medical treatment for his ailing daughter. The movie takes place 65 million years ago, suggesting the existence of futuristic civilizations back then on planets throughout the universe. On the way to his destination, Mills' ship enters an unexpected asteroid field and crashes. All passengers in cryogenic sleep are killed except for Koa, played by Ariana Greenblatt, a girl around the same age as his daughter.

The planet they crash on is Earth, with swampy terrain reminiscent of Dagobah. Mills and Koa must travel from the wreckage to a mountaintop to commandeer the escape pod before the dinosaurs can harm them. However, the creatures they encounter range from startlingly realistic to cheesy and fake, like animatronics at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.

The film's writing-directing team of Beck and Woods, known for co-writing "A Quiet Place" with John Krasinski, offer an intriguing premise that would have benefitted from leaning harder into its inherent B-movie roots. The attempt to juggle a wild survival story with a poignant family drama falls short as both elements feel rushed and underdeveloped, leaving the characters with little substance. The action sequences quickly grow repetitive and wearisome, with the overbearing score and jump scares failing to create any real tension.

Despite the movie's flaws, the filmmakers showcase some clever camerawork and editing choices, borrowing elements from the "Jurassic Park" franchise. The climactic combination of a sneaky quicksand patch, a ravenous Tyrannosaurus rex, a well-timed geyser eruption, and a catastrophic asteroid shower provides some enjoyable nuttiness. However, it's too little too late for the audience to develop any meaningful investment in the story or the characters.

Adam Driver's intense acting style is underutilized in this blandly heroic role, while Ariana Greenblatt does the best she can with a character we know little about. Koa speaks a language that's not English, limiting her exchanges with Mills to basic words. The lack of any real bond or tension between the two characters, despite being stuck with each other, fails to elevate the movie beyond its mediocre status.

Overall, "65" has the potential to be an entertaining B-movie but falls short due to rushed character development, repetitive action sequences, and a lack of meaningful tension. Despite showcasing some clever filmmaking techniques, the movie ultimately fails to deliver a compelling story or memorable characters, leaving the audience wanting more.