Within science fiction it is common to find that narrative structure that consists of a father figure and an apparently defenseless being who must care for and guide. Without going any further, two of the series of the moment -with Pedro Pascall as an irreplaceable idol- deal with this: ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘The Mandalorian’; In feature films, we could find a similarity in the dystopian ‘The Road’, with Viggo Mortensen taking care of a very young Kodi Smit-McPhee.
’65’ joins that list, with Adam Driver playing a space pilot named Mills who must take care of little Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), the sole survivor of a catastrophic accident that has left them both stranded on planet Earth with a shattered spaceship. It is not just any Earth, since it is our beloved blue planet but 65 million years ago (hence the title), so huge dinosaurs populate the earth and put our leading duo in trouble.
The truth is that, when it comes to dangerous creatures, the directors of ’65’, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, have tables for a while, since they both wrote the script for ‘A Quiet Place’, the terrifying phenomenon by John Krasinski. Both directors, who have already stated that the idea has been forged for years as opposed to the dinosaurs that star in the ‘Jurassic Park’ sagareceived the support of the great Sam Raimi, who is in production.
The simplicity of the proposal allows ’65’ to display a brilliant range of action scenes without hesitation, just for pure enjoyment. It plays a trick on him, of course, since his superficiality prevents him from making a dent in any way with the viewer, who leaves the room remembering less and less about the film. But you don’t need it either. It stands as a survival proposal anchored in science fiction and far from any type of franchise or saga..
simple but proud
We live in times in which the elevation of the intellectuality of the films has ended up tiring -not to mention the zillion sequels of the cinematographic universes- and giving way to much simpler proposals. In terror, we had that subgenre dubbed ‘elevated horror’ that has sparked the opposite current: self-conscious films that laugh at the norm and propose something new and fresh.
Something similar happens in science fiction. Far from the brainy works of Christopher Nolan or the overloaded majesty of Denis Villeneuve stands ’65’, proud of its simplicity to the point of not needing more than 90 minutes and two strong performances. Don’t get me wrong, the prehistoric reptiles trying to hunt down the couple (with a huge muzzle in the rain reminiscent of ‘Alien 3’) are the film’s strong point, but seeing how the film leaves room for complicity and understanding between the two is wonderful.
Life could have been complicated unnecessarily. Mills has certain affinities with his daughter (played by Chloe Coleman) that could have led to a pseudo ‘Interstellar’ with her space-time headaches. Instead, just an hour and a half of survival, shooting giant dinosaurs and chemistry between Driver and GreenBlatt, with their successful touches of comedy that reduce the tension of the matter. All seasoned with a devilish rhythm, against the clock, with the aim of leaving the planet before the well-known meteor shower that killed the famous creatures.
Therefore, ’65’ is confirmed as a highly entertaining hobby, somewhat seedy and self-satisfied in its content, but totally stark and realistic in its forms. He more than fulfills his promise to imagine a man taking care of a little girl, trying to escape from a planet infested with dinosaurs, repelling them with the pull of a trigger and futuristic bombs, and allowing himself to be wrapped up in a cold and complicit relationship, destined to understand each other. even without speaking the same language.
7
The best: Adam Driver. The self-conscious simplicity of its proposal and execution
Worst: Certain parts of the emotional component remain half throttle. Forgettable.
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