Summary
It’s a time loop but not as we know it. Joe Carnahan runs Frank Grillo through the time mill in pursuit of some good ol’ fashioned revenge.
The time loop genre is having a bit of a moment right now. Between Palm Springs, the Happy Death Day films and Netflix’s Russian Doll, simple comparisons with Groundhog Day may soon be a thing of the past. At the very least, BOSS LEVEL plans to blow them up.
King of carnage Joe Carnahan’s latest film dispenses with the exposition, as Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo), a retired special forces soldier, is introduced on Attempt 139 on his life. Stuck in an endless loop, he has never survived much past lunchtime as a serious of outrageous assassins keep tracking him down.
Hoping to find a a way out of his dilemma, he starts unpicking clues left behind by his ex-wife Jemma (Naomi Watts), a scientist working on a top secret project. All the signs point to Colonel Clive Ventor (Mel Gibson), the mastermind behind a mysterious operation known as the Osiris Loop. Roy must use his situation to beat the bad guy, save his love and the son that doesn’t know Roy is his father. All in repeating day’s work, right?
As one might guess from the title, Carnahan (and co-writers Chris and Eddie Borey) use the structure and aesthetics of arcade games to pull off this version of the time loop action film. Save for the opening credits, and a few visits to an arcade, it doesn’t really scream 8-bit. Yet it does mirror the feeling one gets in trying to repeatedly beat a game in order to reach the titular boss level. It’s a bit like Game of Death without the actual off-screen death.
Tongues are planted fully in cheek with an eclectic cast of harpoon-weilding assassins to career stooge Will Sasso. Leading man Grillo is at his grizzled best here, although his lack of energy may have more to do with the character than the material. The standout is Michelle Yeoh as an almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-her sword expert, but she and the audience relish every minute she’s on screen. Casting Gibson as the villain is a double-edged sword, especially given his character’s references to “fucking liberals” and the contention of going back in time to alter Hitler’s history. Someone failed to read the room on that one.
BOSS LEVEL is a solid action outing, but it’s shame that is game just becomes another side-scroller after the first few levels. The other similarity to Game of Death is that it doesn’t really have a solid conclusion. Still, any film featuring a helicopter hijack, a gatling gun, and a sword carrying killer is going to find its audience.
2021 | USA | DIRECTOR: Joe Carnahan | WRITERS: Chris Borey, Eddie Borey, Joe Carnahan | CAST: Frank Grillo, Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, Annabelle Wallis, Ken Jeong, Will Sasso, Selina Lo, Meadow Williams, Michelle Yeoh | DISTRIBUTOR: Rialto Distribution (AUS), Hulu (US)| RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 25 February 2021 (AUS), 5 March 2021 (US)
