By 
A BAREBONED SCI-FI EXPLORATION INTO
EARTH’S PREHISTORIC PAST
There are movies that talk about history by gazing into the past and telling stories from different eras and time periods and then there are movies that takes a closer look at “predated” history by promising a glance into the prehistoric age of Neanderthals, cavemen, dinosaurs, and a menagerie of primal indigenous wildlife. There’s something fantastic about these types of movies, bringing a cinematic lens by pulling away the veil of ancient and primordial world into our own world, with the juxtaposition of life and survival during such dangerous times. Such vigorous storytelling deals with prehistoric flights of fancy with some being a bit more austere and gravitas like 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1984’s Iceman, 2008’s 10,000 BC, 2018’s Alpha, while others are more comical and family friendly like 1994’s The Flintstones, 2002’s Ice Age, 2013’s The Croods, 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, and 2018’s Early Man just to name a few. Now, Sony Pictures and director Scott Beck and Bryan Woods travel back to Earth’s prehistoric time with a unique sci-fi tale with the film titled 65. Does the merging of science fiction nuances within a prehistoric setting find cinematic harmony or does it, like the dinosaurs, go extinct with its flat and uninspiring concept?
THE STORY
Long ago…. far away on the planet Somaris, Mills (Adam Driver) has reluctantly accepted an employment prospect as the leader of an exploratory mission into unknown deep space. The job will take him away from his loving family for two years, leaving his wife (Nika King) and his daughter, Nervine (Chloe Coleman), behind for such extended duration. During the journey, Mills’s ship is suddenly hit by a collision of asteroids, making an unexpected crash landing at a nearby planet, with the vessel splitting into two sections. Surveying the damage, Mills discovers most of the cryo-tubes have been destroyed, killing those inside and leaving the pilot alone to understand what’s happened and how he can be rescued. Enter Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), a young child, the only survivor of the cryo-tube humans, and who doesn’t speak the same language as Millis, complicating their way of communication with one another. As the pair venture forth together to try to make their way across the land to the other half of their wrecked ship (where the escape pods are located), Millis and Koa quickly discover the harsh environment of this alien world, filled with physical threats of dinosaurs emerging from shadows to feast on their prey and a looming threat of an asteroid in the sky, which is on a collision course for the planet….Earth.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
I’ve always found it interesting to explore the past and the various time periods and eras that span the planet’s lifecycle and the variety of civilizations. Exploring the prehistoric past is somewhat interesting because everyone’s mind immediately drums up the fantastical ideas from mainstream and popularity nuances of cavemen and dinosaurs. Of course, such imagery is iconic to all, but scientist and proven such illustrations to be a bit false to certain degrees of it, with the evolution of homo sapiens coming way before the time of dinosaurs; proving the false depiction of the two races co-existing together during such ancient times. Though it’s still fun to imagine such a possibility and (again) such a depiction of cavemen and dinosaurs has literally been engrained into everyone’s mind since we were little. Of course, Hannah-Barbera’s Flintstones cartoon series comes to my mind to such drawing of prehistoric life as well as other feature films like 10,000 BC, The Croods, Ice Age, and Dinosaurs just to name a few ones that I personally find interesting to watch. Overall, the allure and fascination of the prehistoric era of Earth’s history continues to inspire and Imaginate the mind’s of everyone; depicting such primordial creatures and beings that were once the dominate species, yet now only exist within the pages of history books and museums.
This brings me back to talking about 65, a 2023 sci-fi film and the latest project to tackle the cinematic depiction of Earth’s prehistoric era. I can’t exactly remember when I first heard about this movie. I think I read somewhere online that actor Adam Driver was going to be attached to a science fiction film (titled 65) and was going to be about someone time traveling (presumably) into Earth’s prehistoric past. Of course, right before I saw the movie I found out that it was set solely on the prehistoric past and the characters would come from another (more developed) world. Soon after that, the film’s movie trailers began to surface on the web and in theaters during the “coming attractions” previews, which showcased that premise. I wasn’t completely convinced by the preview to make the movie a “must see”, but I was a bit curious to see what the project held and how it was going to handle its premise. So, I decided to check out the movie a few weeks after its initial release (March 10th, 2023). However, while I did see 65 in theaters, this particular film wasn’t on my “top list” to get my review done that quickly, especially since I was still trying to “wrap up” my reviews for 2022 releases and trying to punch out my reviews for some of the bigger releases of 2023. So, sadly, my review for 65 got massively delayed for quite some time. However, as I’m trying to wrap up my reviews for 2023, I am finally ready to share personal thoughts on this sci-fi / prehistoric hybrid movie. And what did I think of it? Well, unfortunately, it was disappointing. Despite having an interesting premise and some good visual effects shots and nuances, 65 is a very basic and stripped-down narrative presentation that feels very clunky in its mechanics and overall execution. There’s definitely some parts that are good, but, negatives outweigh the positives, which isn’t great for the movie itself.
65 is directed by Scott Beck, whose previous directorial works include such projects like The Bride Wore Blood, Haunt, and 50 States of Fright, and Bryan Woods, whose previous has previously worked on those same projects as well. The duo are frequent collaborators with each other and have worked on not only directing, but also as producers and writers, including the 2018 hit A Quiet Place. Thus, their frequent collaboration for each other is quite a cinematic union with Beck / Woods’s approach to this film to be a bit similar to the 2018 sleeper hit. Not so much in the way of monstrous alien creatures that stalk the land by sound alone, but in a way that keeps the feature on a straightforward narrative progression trajectory and doesn’t get bogged down with too many superfluous details of side stories or unnecessary tangents. This can be seeing as a bit of a both good or bad thing (more on that below), but, for the good part, the directors shape the movie as a sort of “survival” drama, choosing to bring a slimer and leaner narrative to a film and provides plenty of visual on-screen creatures and environments that Mills must navigate through.
Naturally the action scenes in 65 are what sells the most on the project, with Beck / Woods staging plenty throughout the entire film. As mentioned, the movie is presented almost as a survival movie, which gives plenty of thrills and scares in the feature’s narrative and effectively utilized the classic “jump scare” tactic in a few moments. Monsters, both large and small, are hostile to Mills and, while his futuristic weaponry help neutralize many threats that stalk him, he has to use his wits to survive this dangerous environment. These actions scenes are pretty good and help build upon the film’s suspense and tensions, which are only further compacted twice over, due to Mill’s care over Koa, who is fearful of the dangers that come at them. This is where the Beck / Woods use the prehistoric angle of the movie’s premise, using predated beings of flora and fauna and dinosaurs to wreak havoc beyond the alien intruders that have entered their domain.
Of course, the duo directors do take several “breathers” throughout the movie to help break up the barrage of action thrills and furious encounters, finding a few sentiment moments where the two characters reflect on their lives and their current situations. Overall, I felt that Beck / Woods did a somewhat decent job in bringing 65 to the screen, brandishing a hostile prehistoric world that Mills and Koa must traverse, bonding in their survival, and reach their destination before time runs out. It’s a clear cut and effective movie that knows what it wants, with the two directors present in such a way that keeps in lean on all fronts.
As a sidenote, I do like how the movie’s main plot starts to become a sort of “race against the clock” for Mills and Koa to make it to the other half of the wrecked ship as constant reminder of a looming asteroid threat heading towards them is repeatedly brought up. For the video gamers out there…. this element in the film reminded me of the scenario from the classic JRPG Chrono Trigger, with Chrono and the gang exploring the prehistoric time period, battling against the reptites, and the ominous threat in the sky in the form of Lavos that’s hurdling towards them. I do like those parallels between the two projects.
For its presentation, I do have to say that 65 does look pretty good and depicts a very intriguing portrayal of Earth’s prehistoric era in a way that’s both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Of course, this depiction of predated and primal setting of Earth during such an ancient era doesn’t quite push the boundaries of “groundbreaking material” in the realm of filmmaking, but, for what it’s worth, it does meet the somewhat industry standard for such imagery, which does seem to work in the film’s favor. Lush flora and fauna in the various locations feel real and organic (and sometimes alien / otherworldly) and the creatures themselves are (both large and small) have that primitive appearance that looks dangerous in such a world of nature. Plus, the moments where the film focuses on some of the sci-fi elements and aspects certainly do look quite sleek and stylish. Thus, the movie’s “behind the scenes” team, including Kevin Ishioka (production design), Michael Kaplan (costume designs), and Chris Caine, Kelly Curley, and David Storm, for their efforts in bringing the feature’s visual world to life. In addition, the cinematography work by Salvatore Totino is actually pretty good in a few areas in the movie, which definitely helps amp up the dramatic flair of the story and builds upon some moments to be quite cinematic. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Chris Bacon and Danny Elfman, does a decent job throughout the picture, with a music composition that displays the serene beauty of the pre-dated Earth (as well as in quieter character-built moments), but also within its more bombastic and suspenseful scenes that make tension-driven sequences enticing.
Unfortunately, 65 is quite heavily punctured with lots of criticisms in its proceedings, which does hinder the movie from reaching such lofty and cinematic goals that the filmmakers were trying to reach. How so? Well, for starters, the movie itself, despite its gimmick of “future meets past” aesthetics, does come off as a bit “meh” for a great majority of the feature’s duration and doesn’t really go beyond anything new or exciting. It’s definitely not for a lack of trying on the filmmaker’s part in their efforts to make the film feel exciting, but there is a sense of emptiness and blandness throughout. The story is there, but it does lack the substance it needs to make the whole endeavor compelling. Again, the gimmick idea for 65 does have its merits, yet it comes off as a sort of “bareboned” presentation. Fending off against dinosaurs and surviving a prehistoric / underdeveloped world seems intriguing premise, but it does lack the conviction and cinematic bite that is required for such a feature. There can be a sublime blissfulness in a simple story premise, which can be seeing in A Quiet Place (and expand upon), but 65 seems like a very humdrum picture that never rise to the challenge (or occasion) to warrant excitement and well-roundness. Basically, if you are looking for something simple like a “man vs. beast” idea for a film, then you might like what this movie has to offer. That being said, it all feels underwhelming and lacks the conviction in the unanswered intrigue.
Who is to blame for this? Well, it’s a combination of the directing aspect as well as the writing for the film. Beck / Wood’s direction is again streamlined for an effective aim of storytelling, which does play up the survival mode of 65’s plot. Yet, it all feels quite hollow and lacks substance within those said aims, which results in a lot of “meh” moments. The action does help elevate those scenes with suspense and thrills, but it does feel derivate and almost to the point of being conventional and predictable. Particular jump scares feel “meh” and almost to the point of being to formulaic, especially in modern Hollywood where such tactics are overused. Then there is the matter of the feature’s pacing, which is quite sluggish throughout the entire project. Again, there are moments where there are thrills, but the overall film feels quite unbalanced from onset to conclusion; rendering 65 to be quite the slog endeavor. There just seems to be a lacking finesse and execution of a great majority in the movie, with Beck / Wood’s touches of shaping the film feeling to be heading in the right direction yet loosening its course throughout the picture. From a writer’s standpoint, the movie misses that particular avenue due to the feature’s basic formula of storytelling, which keeps things very streamlined and simple, yet feels lacks substance in almost every aspect. Beck / Wood, who pull double duty on 65, penned the script for the feature and (again) feels pretty limp. There is potential there, but it feels quite shallow and limps on without very much to entice or excite viewers. Elements of Mill’s past and relationship with his daughter seems prime for further examination, which does affect his current standings with Koa, but it’s never fully explored and does feel like a missed opportunity.
The cast in 65 is relatively small (by design) and gives more screen to the two established characters of Mills and Koa respectfully. Thus, the acting talents of both actor Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt rest solely on them and, for their sum parts, they actually do a pretty good job in conveying such characters in this survival situation. Driver, who is known for his roles in The Last Duel, House of Gucci, and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, has certainly been a rising star in Hollywood of late, appearing more frequently in projects in recent years. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Driver would lead / headline this particular movie as the film’s “big ticketed” star, especially since the cast of the feature is minimalize by nature. Thus, Driver does bring enough screen presence in 65 and does most (if not all) of the heavy lifting throughout the entire picture. For his part, he actually does pull off the character in the movie, providing a decent role in his portrayal of Mills, a man who is confronted with a survival situation and must find a way out of it. The character arc and overall trajectory of Mills (as a whole) is quite straightforward and precise, with very little to deviate from that survival mode aspect as well as finding a similar paternal feeling with Koa. Thus, there is a little bit of flatness found within that character, but, to his effect, Driver does help sell those moments quite well and does make for a capable leading performance in Mills, regardless of if the writing for him is a bit weak.
The same can be also said about Greenblatt, who is known for her roles in Barbie, The One and Only Ivan, and Avengers: Infinity War, who does a relatively good job in playing Koa, a young girl who find herself alone with Mills and doesn’t speak the same type of language as her fellow companion, which results in the pair bonding / learning from each other. Basically, she is the younger person who the veteran character (Mills) must protect throughout the whole journey, which (again) is a conventional and formulaic in the survival premise, but, for her part, Greenblatt does a decent job in portraying Koa. However, while both Driver and Greenblatt are quite capable talents and work well within their respective own characters, their on-screen chemistry with each other feels rather awkward at times. Of course, their scenes together are supposed to emulate a father / daughter relationship and, while that idea is quite present in the movie, it just doesn’t come together in the end. Thus, while Driver and Greenblatt are relatively good in the movie, their on-screen chemistry with each other is a bit jarring at times, which doesn’t quite help sell the bonding moments between Mills and Koa.
With the movie mostly focusing on both Driver’s Mills and Greenblatt’s Koa, the story (and the film) doesn’t offer much in the way of supporting characters by design alone. However, actress Chloe Coleman (My Spy and Marry Me) does make a small yet memorable appearance in the movie as Mill’s daughter Nervine. The character is presented as a narrative plot device via video recording flashbacks, so there isn’t a whole lot particular “growth” or character arc for Nervine, but Coleman still has enough gumption to make her performance, however short it is, memorable. Lastly, actress (Euphoria and Greenleaf) does a decent in her small character role as Nevine’s mom and Mills’s partner. She doesn’t bring much beyond the concerned wife archetype, especially since she only appearance in the first during the beginning part, but, for her sum parts, she does a relatively okay job.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Stranded on a hostile and primitive alien world, Mills, along with an unexpected passenger in his care, must journey across a land of vicious creatures and dangerous pitfalls before calamity crashes from above them in the movie 65. Director Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’s latest film takes an interesting “what if?” scenario and runs with it by having an advanced civilization man let stranded on Earth during the prehistoric age and how he must survive in the classic “kill or be killed” scenario. While the movie’s concept does have moments of intrigue and some of the action / visuals do work well, a great majority of the film is undercooked and underserved by a lackluster script, a thinly sketched plot, and a derivate progression trajectory. Personally, I thought that this movie was pretty “meh” and forgetful….and that’s put it modestly. The visual effects were good, and I thought that Driver and Greenblatt were good in the movie, but such an interesting concept of “past meets future” is squandered with such blandness and derivate nature of survival on an alien world. There was potential in this project, but such potential is progressively diminished as the movie plows forward. Thus, my recommendation for this movie would be a “rent it” at best, while probably a “skip it” would be the best option as the film doesn’t really bring much to the table of the various genres it’s trying to pull from. In the end, 65, while promising with its gimmick concept, just comes off as an unmemorable and forgettable endeavor of a bareboned sci-fi exploration into Earth’s pre-historic past.
2.7 Out of 5 (Rent It / Skip It)
Released On: March 10th, 2023
Reviewed On: May 4th, 2024
65 is 93 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images
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