Boss Level

Greetings from Lithuania.

After i read a premise of "Boss Level" (2021) is decided to watch it as a guilty pleasure on a boring evening - i did not believed this movie will be any good somehow but i liked the premise on paper. What i can say after watching it, is that you don't judge a book by its cover, because "Boss Level" really delivers.

This movie was superbly paced - at running time 1 h 38 min it never dragged and was interesting from start till finish. The story here was an interesting one and involving. Directing was very solid and basically because of good directing this movie was actually really good one. Action scenes (and there are plenty of them) were very well made.

Overall, "Boss Level", no matter how stupid its title is and it maybe sounds on paper - was actually a very entertaining flick. Don't take it too seriously and you will be pleasantly surprised.

This movie is just for fun. Do not take seriously and enjoy the ride. Pure action, good acting and acceptable (not great) FX'S. Frank Grillo is still believable as an action movie star and Mel Gibson is great as a villain too. So, forget twists and great scripts and enjoy the ride, just for fun.

This is quite an interesting film. It looks like a video game, but it has both action and emotional elements. I enjoyed it.

The trailer actually makes this seem goofier than it actually is. time loop stories are actually difficult to tell. Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow are gold standards but this does a pretty good job - taking you on the same ride as the protagonists as he learns more and more about what's happening and how he can change the outcome. Another surprisingly enjoyable part of the movie is the dialogue. It's very of aware of either itself or the corny cliches of other action movies and Frank Grillo does a good job of delivering the snark. Get comfy on the couch with a few beers and enjoy watching this one.

I going to come clean and say I flat out loved this film. It has a great cast, script, action, direction and of course special effects. Equally important, the choreography in the fight scenes is excellent. I never thought I was being hoodwinked or short changed by careful cutting, rapid shot changes or careful camera placement.

Although it has a pretty good if somewhat simplistic storyline, it has been adapted very imaginatively with what is actually quite a lot of forethought planning and development. I felt a little cheated with the ending but on retrospect, I couldn't really have asked for too much more... maybe they're doing a Boss Level II.

Normally I expect Frank Grillo to be either a second tier good guy, when the likes of some A-lister is unavailable or possibly out of budget, or a first rate bad guy, a role he tends to somewhat excel in. Here he's the star attraction and with Naomi Watts and Mell Gibson bringing up the rear and it's a good combination.

Grillo is sharp, witty, romantic and... well, displays a range as an actor that we rarely see him portray, and he does a great job. As an action actor there are few who can walk in his shoes, both physically and with his on screen presence, let's face it, he gets a lot of work in this area for a good reason, but I wasn't expecting him to be a lead in a role that really demands a lot more of his acting ability, and quite frankly, I'm pleasantly surprised. Not that I'm saying he couldn't act before, just that, well... I've not seen him in many parts where he's had much more to do than be/look hard, and or beat people up.

Gibson is Gibson at this stage of his career, gritty, unhinged and accomplished.

Watts is never truly convincing as a scientist/doctor/researcher. The rather alluring slinky dress that functions as a lab coat or some other type of boffin garb was ill thought out, but she nevertheless manages to deliver a competent performance whilst adding a sultry appeal that doesn't go unmissed... perhaps the dress isn't such a bad idea after all.

The minor cast is for the most part an accomplished line up of add-ins who do a pretty good job in filling in the necessary spaces for villain-hood, goonish ineptitude and thuggery. Some are quite enthralling and I loved the way that a multitude of baddies are employed for skulduggery, even if it is (given the protagonist and his lack of superpowers) somewhat excessive. Whilst Michelle yeo is largely unused, she nevertheless gives the story some credibility.

Anyway, I won't give away any details on the plot but it is a good film with a pretty solid delivery all round. I'm not going to nit-pick on the fine points of the story or temporal mechanics of the notions therein, and even though I do like the fact they didn't try and explain away some aspect of science, I didn't so much like that a fair amount of meat was left off the bones of the science aspect of the film... not that it mattered much since it wasn't really the focal point of the film... well, not really.

Anyway, go see it. Solid 7.5 out of 10 for me but I'll give it an 8 since it was an unexpected pleasure to watch.