65

Official Australian release date: 9/3/23. Viewed: 10/3/23.
Directors: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
Actors: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M

 

‘65’ is a dinosaur film with a twist. It’s just a shame the twist doesn’t really add much to the overall film. Mills (Driver) is essentially the only actor, with his daughter Nevine (Coleman) and wife (King) appearing at the start – and Nevine in a few holograms/flashbacks – but then the only other actor being Koa (Greenblatt) who becomes almost a surrogate daughter when they’re stranded.

Not sure if it’s a spoiler or not, but Mills is piloting a spaceship from some other galaxy and crash-lands on Earth – it just so happens to be 65 million years ago and just as the asteroid is approaching Earth. This sets up a situation with one man + futuristic tech vs dinosaurs. You just have to go with it. Instead of making it more a ‘Prey’ or ‘Predator’ situation, the film instead focuses on what’s happened to Mills’ daughter and Koa and trying to establish a human connection, when we really don’t care. Was a bit disappointed there were only 3 dinosaur sightings/interactions in the first 45min.

Some good cinematography, filmed mostly in the forests of Oregon & swamps of Louisiana. There’s some tension occasionally built, but for a short 90min film, there’s far too much time with nothing really happening. Driver’s fine, but I’m not sure having a young child speaking a foreign language as his only co-star helped him. The ending is a bit ridiculous, but at least we see a few more dinos in the 2^nd half, but not enough to make this rewatchable.

Overall: Lots of potential, not enough dinosaurs

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars.