The Gorge

The Gorge

This Apple TV+ movie was streamed yesterday.

A semi-retired Marine sniper (Miles Teller) is recruited by a still impressive Sigourney Weaver for an unusual job that will last for a year - no details given. At the same time, a Lithuanian sniper (Anya Taylor-Joy) is recruited by someone for a similar job.

They are sedated and then helicoptered in to a point a day's hike from their duty posts - one on either side of a deep, mist filled gorge, each in their own ageing concrete tower to guard the gorge.

The rules are quite simple - no contact with your opposite number on the other side; a radio check in every 30 days; kill anything trying to get out of the gorge; expect to be relieved in 12 months.

To no-one's surprise, they don't obey the rules - shenanigans ensue...

It's utter b0ll0cks, but good fun - the writers/producers have sat down with a large quantity of edibles and asked themselves the question, "Given what we are trying to do, what precautions would we have to take?"

There are plot holes you could taxi an Airbus through, but ignore that and eat your popcorn, and you'll likely enjoy it.

The premise of this movie was strong, unique and extremely intriguing. Ultimately, I didn't hate how it unfolded, but I found myself wanting more by the end. There were so many unanswered questions, so many things that could have been explored but weren't because of the time constraints that come with a movie.

Truly, this would have made for a much better TV show, or even a mini series, where things could be fleshed out properly and not rushed as much.

I also found myself wishing it were maybe a video game instead, especially during the moments where cinematically, it DID feel like I was watching a video game cutscene.

In the end, this was a decent film that wasn't able to live up to its potential because there wasn't enough time to explore the world, build the world, or flesh out the characters and conflicts in the world.

A video game or TV show would have been much, much better.

If you read most of the reviews so far you can tell there are two very different tones in the two halfs of this film. Some may not like both styles of the film. There are slow and intimate moments in the first half building up the whole structure of the film and sci-fi horror very disturbing scenes in the second half. I believe the story, photography, acting, editing, visual effects and everything else felt very well done for a self contained film with so few characters and empty spaces. I don't think the payoff and the reveal where underwhelming, felt well explained and conclusive, definitely worth watching it.

If they had got the casting wrong this film would of been a let down for me, The romance that develops was believable and charming and enjoyable to watch. Aside from that it's just a action film which at times left me thinking this was based on a video game...lots of blowing stuff up etc but honestly nothing hear for the horror fans. It follows the action film formula as well as the romantic film formula but completely ignores the horror formula. Yes it has sci-fi in it thus aliens or whatever they called them but they don't give you the creeps. Overall it is entertaining but only because of the casting. It's a great film for a rainy day ,it just isn't a must watch.

First of all, the concept itself was fresh, and the romance between the two main characters was decent. Above all, the movie didn't feel boring even after about two hours, and the acting wasn't bad either. Initially, I thought the movie would be a fantasy monster film or one with aliens, as the trailer mentioned a monster. However, this film is actually a sci-fi action romance based entirely on scientific conspiracy theories.

That said, there were some parts in the middle where the plausibility was lacking, and the plot wasn't as meticulously crafted as it could have been, which made me lower my rating. Overall, though, it's still a movie worth watching.

This kind of action-romance film usually brings to mind the old-fashioned notion of chivalry, where a man is expected to sacrifice himself unilaterally for a woman. However, in an era where both men and women enlist in the military regardless of gender, such clichés feel outdated and old-school. What makes this film truly moving is that both the man and the woman sincerely and coolly sacrifice for each other, overcoming hardships together.

Last but not least, the idea of characters in a movie sharing love and hinting at the future through poetry and quotes really resonated with me, and it made me want to indulge in poetry again. In this age of AI content creation, it felt like a classic yet refreshing approach.