Ever felt as if you're a character in a video game? Constantly resetting, sometimes getting further into the story, other times not making it past the first few moments, but never making it to the end of level... meet Roy, a retired soldier who sets about every day the same way, getting rudely awoken having to defend himself from assassins in an infinite time loop!
Frank Grillo stars alongside Mel Gibson in this action packed blockbuster with countless fight sequences woven through a story of a mysterious nature. Why does Roy live in a loop and how can he stop this inconvenience and continue with his life as normal? This modern revitalisation of a Groundhog Day type story adds in different elements to the typical narrative. The idea is that the character has all of the answers so he just has to piece them together, but there's an element of technology involved in this instance as well, so again, bringing the movie to the future for us to give it that little something extra. Naomi Watts stars as a scientist who is the ex partner of Frank Grillo's Roy, and the mother of their child. Her life changes dramatically when she begins to feel that an artefact she's investigating is going to disrupt the peace both in her workplace with her boss, and the world.
Michelle Yeoh pops up as an icon who Roy can learn a few things from in order to go one to one in combat with a few of the baddies. I wish she was in it more as she just brings something special to every project she's a part of in my opinion... and it was nice to see Naomi Watts back in the movie world as it feels like it's been quite a while - check out the Tank Girl podcast to hear some of the team's opinions about one of her early performances. Let's talk about the boys in the movie too. Mel Gibson is just too good at being bad, so I find it super easy to hate him and side with the protagonists whenever he's involved. And Will Sasso as a bad guy was unexpected. He is so lovable and friendly so why oh why did he get slipped in as an evil henchman. Gahh!
So it's a fun premise, and kind of runs like a video game. I really enjoyed the action sequences, and there are definitely some great loops and scenes in the repetitive parts of the movie that made me cackle! When you get to Guan-Yin and her limited lines you'll appreciate what I'm talking about! Definitely one of the movies of 2020 that I would recommend, and I think that action fans will have a great viewing experience. If you like the typical Frank Grillo movie (not Jiu Jitsu because that was just shockingly bad...) then this is the movie for you.
A review by CB
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