Chaos Walking
Director: Doug Liman
Writer: Patrick Ness (original author) and Christopher Ford
Starring: Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Nick Jonas, Cynthia Erivo (for the love God people, watch Widows), David Oyelowo
Reason for watching: New release
Number of times I’ve watched it: first time viewing
***
Listen, sometimes a movie gets crushed by the system and unfortunate circumstances. It comes out at the wrong time. It is too late for an entry into a dying genre. Maybe the director is pegged as a talentless hack or a terrible person. Whatever it is, sometimes a movie is buried so far down a release calendar it doesn’t even come out until years after its original release date or it gets buried in the early months of the year where studios let their movies get released when they know they won’t make any money. And usually that makes sense. Colin Trevor makes The Book of Henry and Disney tells him he can’t make Star Wars IX. Kevin Spacey gets canceled because of the Me Too movement, he loses his lead role on House of Cards and gets replaced in All the Money in the World.
But for whatever reason, Chaos Walking, a fine movie with good production values and CGI that discusses perseverance and the dangers of following false leaders, all while being based on a distant planet, gets buried for no reason. I get that there is studio politicking and there are egos to be stroked, but somehow this movie became a victim of other’s actions. Because I genuinely believe this a well-made movie.
We start off on a distant planet where Todd (Tom Holland) is learning to control his thoughts. On this new world, all of the thoughts of men are on display for all to hear. One can control but it takes an extra amount of discipline and skill; things that young Todd doesn’t have. However, when Viola (Daisy Ridley) crash lands just outside the settlement where Todd lives, the mayor of the town David (Mads Mikkelsen) wants to take advantage of her power, as her thoughts can’t be seen. Todd decides to protect her and they go on a mission to contact Viola’s spaceship and request their help. Through their time together they become closer and develop a romance, despite Tom’s thoughts that get in the way.
The thing I admire most about this movie is the honesty of Todd’s thoughts. As a Gen Z male, I can testify to how absolutely insane and random my thoughts are sometimes. Seeing how they randomly burst out is very relatable. On top of that, the set pieces in this movie are done well with nice tracking shots and effects for the native life of the new world. While the setup here is pretty basic, it keeps us from getting distracted from the interesting action and thoughts that we get to see play out. Like I mentioned earlier seeing some of the internal dialogue literally play out like thought bubbles or as visual thoughts is pretty awesome to see too. Particularly there’s a cool usage of it near the end of the movie that helps Tood get the upper hand on David.
Holland and Mikkelsen do well with the screentime and lines they receive but neither of them is doing their best work. And while I do not love Daisy Ridley’s performance here, she is given nothing to work with. She is literally the only woman on a planet of all dudes. Of course her opinions and personal intentions are going to be buried by the growth of the male characters. That’s Hollywood. I’m not here for it, and I don’t agree with it. But alas, it’s what we get until we find more directors Patty Jenkins and Ava DuVernay. There are a few loose ends that aren’t exactly tied in well either, but I can imagine this movie has been cut and re-cut several times over since it’s been on hold for two years.
This is a good movie and a good time. I’m tired of every movie I see having to be an excellent blockbuster that draws in dozens of viewers over and over again or being a high concept or a superior art piece. Sometimes, you just need a ham sandwich. You don’t always need a great three-course meal from a five-star restaurant or a dollar-menu cheeseburger from McDonald’s. This a good use of money for a movie business that is struggling. If you believe it is safe to go out there and enjoy a movie, this would be a good choice.
7/10
Until I see another one