A Review of “Boss Level (2021)”

 

I am a sucker for these Time loop movies. So when I heard there was an R rated action time loop movie, I was already sold. The premise is simple “A retired military operative finds himself in a never-ending time loop on the day of his death”. So is this a fun entry in the genre or a loop you’re going to forget?

Firstly, I like the premise and idea behind it. Revenge stories aren’t rare and stories, where the main character is hunted by assassins, isn’t rare either. A time loop story containing both of these is relatively unique though and it makes you wonder why it wasn’t done earlier. I also really like the video game motif of Boss Level (2021). Throughout, the movie it is frame like a video game with attempt numbers and him trying to memorize all the timings. It makes it quite fun as we go along with him as he learns more in each attempt. Although, the story isn’t told linearly as when it begins he is already on over 100 attempts. There will be a lot of scenes referring to previous attempts before going back to the present attempt but this is never jarring in any way and is handled fine.

Due to the R rating, we get some great violent scenes such as seeing our main character, Roy Pulver played magnificently by Frank Grillo, get decapitated or shot multiple times or even blown up. There are very fun deaths in Boss Level. There are also some high energy and cartoony action sequences from a pretty ridiculous car chase, shoot-outs and even a sword fight that are an absolute blast to watch. I also really enjoyed the dark humour such as our main lead getting annoyed with certain ways of dying since it takes too long. While there is a lot of chaotic fun throughout, there is also some heart in the story. Roy Pulver does get a character arc and there are some sweet moments between Roy and his family. The writer and director utilized the time loop idea effectively for a key part of the story and funny moments.

However, for a movie that is only 100 minutes, it is baffling that there are so many parts where the pacing slows to a downhill. After an amazing 10 minute intro, it then decides to do the entire flashback right after and it lasts WAY too long. Every scene concerning Jemma Wells (Naomi Watts), Roy’s wife, is just very boring to watch and this isn’t down to Naomi’s performance or anything. It’s because the scene is meant to give one important info but is dragged by meaningless dialogue that is just padding the run time. Another example is a monologue from the villain Clive Ventor (Mel Gibson) about some snake just to amount to “don’t bring visitors Jemma okay?”. Going from high energy action scenes to these slow-paced talking scenes brings the movie to a standstill, especially if the talking scenes don’t have enough significant or emotional impact. Unfortunately, the pacing doesn’t just drop at the beginning but also drops at the ending which goes on for a bit too long as well.

I’m also disappointed in how Mel Gibson and Michelle Yeoh are used in the movie. They are both amazing actors but are just not in the movie a lot. Mel Gibson plays the main villain but we don’t see him do much apart from just monologuing for a long time. Michelle Yeoh is on the poster which seems to signify an important character but she is nothing more than a 1-minute cameo. I wish there was more conflict between the main character and the main villain but they won’t interact that much. Some dialogue isn’t that great either

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Boss Level (2021). It doesn’t blow you away in the action department or do something never seen before. However, it is very high octane energy and chaotic which honestly is incredibly satisfying to watch.