Boss Level

Time loops are definitely an interesting narrative in storytelling in any kind of media. Their premise of any protagonist repeating the same day can often lead towards many comedic shenanigans and provide opportunities for the growth of the troubled individual. On paper, the predictable pattern can affect the quality and lower its quality if not handled well. The recent decade, however, has given a slight resurgence to this field with comedy movies such as Happy Death Day (2017), Happy Death Day 2 U (2019), and Palm Spring (2020) (funny enough I never saw the Bill Murray classic most famous for this, Groundhog Day). This brings us to a new entry, Boss Level, which was written by Joe Carnahan and debuted on Hulu earlier this month. I was made aware of it while searching for upcoming movies on streaming platforms I have access to but didn't know much else about it. I watched it hoping for a decent flick since the poster didn't make it seem like much but after finishing it, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this action comedy.

What's it about? The story follows a retired special forces soldier struggling to find a way break out of his time loop where he's repeatedly by assassins. Something that separates this narrative from the aforementioned group is that the situation is explained to the audience right at the beginning with the protagonist having gone through 100 attempts in this process. It's aiming for the fun factor of how over the top the scenarios and action sequences can get, which is impressive for a made for streaming flick. The enduring struggles he undergoes had that video game kind of feel where it's that annoying stage with patterns and tricks to learn in how he adapts to everything. The pacing is done impressively well where we see his phases of mood for his predicament that can range from annoyance, frustration, emotional realization, and even confident bravado. There are some stellar one-liners that can catch its audience off-guard with how ridiculous they can get (including a fun movie reference regarding a famous moment and its behind the scenes details).

With all that's entertaining and satisfying about it, there are some blemishes that hurt it a little. The main antagonist is pretty stock and doesn't feel very threatening in many of his appearances. The rules of this time loop doesn't exactly have high stakes here (compared to something like Happy Death Day where the more that protagonist repeatedly dies, the more permanent it will become). The emotional mark doesn't hit as high as it could have and the science behind what's going on is a bit iffy in its world ending details. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Frank Grillo. Frank is an acting anchor that's holding down this movie with his engaging entertaining performance that manages to do more than enough for a role anyone could have slept through. Honorable mentions Will Sasso, Selino Lo, and Mel Gibson for having some hilarious lines and having the most fun of the supporting cast despite their limited screen time. Dishonorable mention goes to Rio Grillo for being a weak link among the cast (I didn't realize it was Frank's son in this part until after some post-viewing research).

 

Overall Consensus: Boss Level provides over the top fun in a familiar premise that's bolstered by a charismatic lead performance, cool fight sequences, and silly cheesy lines, even though it doesn't have high stakes. ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Joe Carnahan. You are in the mood for a silly event repeating premise and cheesy hilarious comedy.  

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Joe Carnahan. You aren't in the mood for a silly event repeating premise and cheesy hilarious comedy.