Boss Level (2021)
Directed by Joe Carnahan
A former special forces agent is trapped in a time loop and relives his death over and over again. To escape the terrible situation, he must track down those responsible and stop them.
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For many years after the 1993 release of Groundhog Day , it seemed that even the shameless rapscallions who pitch scripts in Hollywood wouldn't dare copy that film's brilliant and unique central conceit.
Directed by Joe Carnahan, Boss Level proves once again that you can borrow the Groundhog Day idea and, like Edge of Tomorrow , Happy Death Day, and Palm Springs , still add something new to it.
The sci-fi Groundhog Day concept is all too familiar ( Edge of Tomorrow , Source Code ), and Carnahan employs a ham-fisted narration device that borders on incessant.
A high-octane riff on Groundhog Day that crisscrosses cyclical design with director Joe Carnahan’s avid addiction to high falls and fireballs, Boss Level doesn’t so much reinvent the timeless concept as much as it blends a few genres together to give it a point of difference.
That might make you concerned for the quality of Boss Level , yet while its long gestation has its odd quirks (Mel Gibson as the main villain, no thanks), Carnahan delivers on his " Groundhog Day as an action movie" concept.
If the best example of this idea is 1993’s “Groundhog Day,” “Boss Level” is several levels below that now heralded classic.
Since that’s his mission, “Edge of Tomorrow” might come to mind as a point of comparison: though beloved of Tom Cruise fans, including this one, most wouldn’t say that’s one of his greatest star roles — the concept comes first.
While it doesn’t exactly re-invent the concept seen in similar films like Edge of Tomorrow , Looper , and Source Code , Boss Level brings something fresh to the table by virtue of instilling the film with video game sensibilities that will undoubtedly delight hardcore gamers.
What a shame, since badass extraordinaire Frank Grillo is a good sport about enduring physical brutalization on repeat à la Edge Of Tomorrow .
Directed by Joe Carnahan, Boss Level proves once again that you can borrow the Groundhog Day idea and, like Edge of Tomorrow , Happy Death Day, and Palm Springs , still add something new to it.
The sci-fi Groundhog Day concept is all too familiar ( Edge of Tomorrow , Source Code ), and Carnahan employs a ham-fisted narration device that borders on incessant.
And, even for viewers unacquainted with Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, the Happy Death Day franchise and Palm Springs, the film always feels as if it's following in better footsteps, including via sci-fi decor that could've stepped right out of Stargate and fight scenes that've taken inspiration from the John Wick series.
While it doesn’t exactly re-invent the concept seen in similar films like Edge of Tomorrow , Looper , and Source Code , Boss Level brings something fresh to the table by virtue of instilling the film with video game sensibilities that will undoubtedly delight hardcore gamers.
The sci-fi Groundhog Day concept is all too familiar ( Edge of Tomorrow , Source Code ), and Carnahan employs a ham-fisted narration device that borders on incessant.
And, even for viewers unacquainted with Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, the Happy Death Day franchise and Palm Springs, the film always feels as if it's following in better footsteps, including via sci-fi decor that could've stepped right out of Stargate and fight scenes that've taken inspiration from the John Wick series.
At least until 2011, when Duncan Jones' very good Source Code turned up, followed by the wildly entertaining Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt sci-fi actioner Edge of Tomorrow in 2014.
Time-loop movies have become increasingly popular over the years, with the likes of Looper , Source Code , and Palm Springs recent entries.
Without giving too much away, let’s just say Roy is a pawn of some sort of sci-fi experiment involving his ex-wife, Dr. Jemma Wells (Naomi Watts), who is working on a high-level, top-secret techno-project under the paranoid watch of her supervisor, the wild-eyed Col. Clive Ventor (Mel Gibson, and call it typecasting if you must), and suddenly we’re in Time Loop Movie territory similar to “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Source Code.”
Carnahan pulls no punches in making these scenes as bloody, violent, and amusing as possible, echoing the black comedy of films like Deadpool and Happy Death Day .
Directed by Joe Carnahan, Boss Level proves once again that you can borrow the Groundhog Day idea and, like Edge of Tomorrow , Happy Death Day, and Palm Springs , still add something new to it.
And, even for viewers unacquainted with Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, the Happy Death Day franchise and Palm Springs, the film always feels as if it's following in better footsteps, including via sci-fi decor that could've stepped right out of Stargate and fight scenes that've taken inspiration from the John Wick series.
Between time travel loophole films ala “Palm Springs,” “Happy Death Day,” “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things,” and now “Boss Level,” I’m feeling the side effects of watching the routine “stuck in the same day” plot albeit with a different genre (action, young-adult, horror, or comedy).
It feels as if we’re stuck in a time loop watching Time Loop Movies and Time Loop Series, with variations on “Groundhog Day” in the campy-fun horror film “Happy Death Day” and its sequel, the rom-com “Palm Springs” and the comedy/drama “Russian Doll,” and it feels as if we’re stuck in a time loop watching Time Loop Movies and Time Loop Series, with variations on “Groundhog Day” in ...
It’s not socially relevant like The Obituary of Tunde Johnson , emotionally poignant like Before I Fall , genre-bending like Happy Death Day , or irreverently subversive like Palm Springs , but it is entertaining.
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Grillo as absent husband/father, sassy voiceover Grillo—trying to combine all these into this character doesn’t just push him to ape different performers (Ryan Reynolds’ ability to be a charming smartass even in Deadpool’s most rote circumstances, Neeson’s loving gravitas driving his desperate latter-day actioners) but hamstrings a truly talented actor and the film with unfocused, unnecessary diversions.
Carnahan pulls no punches in making these scenes as bloody, violent, and amusing as possible, echoing the black comedy of films like Deadpool and Happy Death Day .
At times, it reminded me of the original John Wick and even Deadpool , although it's not anything like as good as either.
In that sense, and in its disembodied narration and video game screen cutaways, Boss Level channels the gonzo, surreal hedonism of the Crank films.
But Boss Level also brought back memories of the Jason Statham actioner Crank .
In Boss Level , Joe Carnahan attempts to massage the 2000s action prestigiousness of Crank and Smokin’ Aces into a Groundhog Day time-loop about marital values and Gatling guns—except it’s never that fun.
They’ve been sent by Jemma’s boss, played by a subdued Mel Gibson who seems to be channeling David Carradine in the “Kill Bill” movies with an Ambien twist.
A big part of his daily downfall comes at the hands of a crew of eccentric assassins who all feel like deleted scenes from Kill Bill .
It's not just the title that's a nod to video games as the structure of the movie is similar to classic side-scrolling beat-em-ups like Double Dragon , with Roy taking on the various assassins and working his way up.
Grillo is Double Dragon ‘s Billy and Jimmy Lee in one, scrolling through his levels until victory is all that remains.
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At times, it reminded me of the original John Wick and even Deadpool , although it's not anything like as good as either.
And, even for viewers unacquainted with Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, the Happy Death Day franchise and Palm Springs, the film always feels as if it's following in better footsteps, including via sci-fi decor that could've stepped right out of Stargate and fight scenes that've taken inspiration from the John Wick series.
Pulver, being the “John Wick” knockoff he is, tries new tricks each day to no avail and explains his process though intermittent narration.
She did great, understated work opposite Edward Norton in the romantic period-piece The Painted Veil, and Viggo Mortensen in 2007’s stellar David Cronenberg underworld drama Eastern Promises.