Boss Level (2020)
Gone today, here tomorrow
A really fun movie was Edge of Tomorrow. It had another name, but I like the original name better - and that of course was something that derived from - at least in concept if nothing else - Groundhogs Day. Now, this is just a conceptual standpoint sort of thing, and evolutionary stand point to get to tonight’s movie - so I know all about where EoT actually got ripped form, but case in point there’s a lot of movies about repeating the same day ad nauseum, and tonight’s movie is another one such film. Much like the genre core itself, it seems these movies will never end, and to find out if that’s a good thing tonight we once more hit the replay button and take our best chance on the Boss Level.
The movie really feels like it’s trying to force the video game angle in here, but rest assured that the movie doesn’t have anything to do with video games so you can enjoy it without being an avid couch commander and mountain dew aficionado - and it’s okay for me to say such things because I’m one of them and that’s how words work in the modern era. A man has a team tasked with making a device that will effectively allow the rewriting of history and events as they see fit. This man isn’t a particular good man, and the lead scientist lady knows he’s just as likely to bring about the end of the world and secretly enlists her ex-husband to be her savior when things start going south. It’s now up to the oblivious ex to figure out what’s going on, why people are trying to kill him, and maybe even save the day so he can escape the vicious repeat of being destroyed by assassins.
The story is nothing super new at it’s watered down level - as implied by the opener for this week. As is usual though, every one of these has a little different swing to them. One’s a horror movie, one’s a science fiction with aliens, ones a comedy - well, this one goes the comedy action movie angle. The actors do a pretty decent job with it, but I think this is the quickest I can get to “mileage will vary” in a review yet. Let me say though that for me, everyone did a fine job. Most the on-screen peeps are going to be very one note, with hardly any lines in all honesty. When we do get lines, it’s pretty much geared towards a joke of some kind.
Given that the characters are rather one note, the only ones that really have any sort of depth is actually our main character whose reliving all the days - I mean, this make sense of course given the movie type. Reliving the same day over and over gives a person a lot of time to go through arcs and learn to be a better person after all. The next best things would probably be the relationship between the son for when that comes up, but when it comes to villains, well, think of them less as characters and more as obstacles. Each has a gimmick, and plenty of that gimmick ends up being a joke - and the jokes I can foresee being very hit or miss in this one.
The gang’s all here.
You see, there’s some jokes that are easy right, like the one liners. Everyone loves one liners, it’s easy popcorn entertainment. Some of the jokes made me laugh, but some people will probably get offended just because it’s that fine borderline moment where I could see it happening even though if it was something that came out in the 80’s I don’t think anyone would bat an eye at it. Some of the line deliveries to help with the comedy side of it - but again, the bulk of it relies on the main character so if you don’t like him then a bunch of the movie will probably flounder in your opinion.
The action scenes here get to have a lot to go with. Of course, the multitude of deaths both main character and enemies provide a variety of things to see. We have some sword fights, we got plenty of gun fights, car chases and fist fights. The effects aren’t overly graphic for the most part, although we do get a few head-chops that provide some neck giblets. That said, the more offensive bit will be the language to most people rather than the violence - which I should point out also gets used for the comedy some times. I wouldn’t really necessarily call it glorifying violence or anything, but it does keep it entertaining.
Audio has a few songs in there I recognize, but mostly used for the classic elements like mood enhancers. Balance is great, so you don’t have to worry about hearing things said amidst action scenes. It actually works quite well in the audio department, and I think most won’t find a lot of trouble here, outside of maybe just not liking a persons voice. Of course, with jokes sometimes it’s all in the delivery - which will be hit or miss depending on if you like the voices and situations of the jokes. I got a good chuckle out of a few different jokes though, so it’s not all bad if you ask me.
A couple of Egyptian innuendos.
Although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’ll replace Tomorrow from my favorite Groundhogs-like movie, it was still an enjoyable time. There was some action to be had, there was some laughs to be had, and it had some fun little elements like the play on Osiris. There’s elements that could have been a bit more intricate, but in all honesty it probably would have just bogged the movie down. Things play out pretty well as far as the mystery of figuring things out, but folks might not necessarily find themselves getting as attached to the main character as they could in some of the other repeater-movies out there. Still, it’s not overly long or bland, so it’s probably a good bet for checking it out if you want a little fun action.