I think it was when I went to see Avatar: The Way of Water that I saw the trailer for 65 for the first time. It was a trailer that I thought was awesome and a movie I knew I had to go and see in theatres. A sci-fi action movie with dinosaurs is something that I will always give a chance. Add to this, Adam Driver (Lincoln, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, BlacKkKlansman, Marriage Story, House of Gucci) as the lead and you have a recipe for something that could be a great deal of fun.
How to Download 65
Sometime after the film’s theatrical release which happened on 10 March 2023, you can expect to be able to download or stream it from a digital platform such as Netflix. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability.
The Movie Review
One thing that kind of blows my mind is that they spoil the fact that the movie takes place on Earth during the days of the dinosaurs in all of the promotional stuff for the movie! I think this was a missed opportunity here as they could have had it be a surprise reveal that the planet they crashed on was a prehistoric Earth.
Our main character is a man called Mills who is played by Adam Driver. Mills’ daughter is sick and to pay for her treatment, he takes a job on a space expedition that is going to last for two years. The thing is, this job goes horribly wrong as the spacecraft that he is on, is hit by an asteroid, and that forces Mills and the passengers who are in hypersleep to crash on Earth.
Thinking all of the passengers are dead, Mills thinks about ending it all, but he realizes that there is a survivor, a young girl called Koa. Mills discovers that there is an escape shuttle that survived the crash and he and Koa are going to make their way to it and wait for rescue.
Of course, as this is prehistoric Earth, there are dinosaurs that want to eat Mills and Koa for lunch and make their journey to the escape shuttle filled with danger. This movie on paper sounds awesome, but it is very slow-paced. When there are dinosaurs on the screen and they are in danger, it is great!
Yet, the stuff in between never really clicked and I found that I did not care for Mills and Koa as much as I should have. I get the impression that they were going for an Ellie and Joel, The Last of Us kind of relationship, but it never quite works. It is not bad, but you certainly do not care about Mills and Koa’s fight for survival and their growing bond as you do Ellie and Joel.
One thing that I thought was a neat idea was that while there is a T-Rex (actually a couple of them) in this movie, they use some lesser-known dinosaurs which I thought was a lot of fun and I wish they leaned more into this if I am honest as the special effects work for the dinosaurs was fantastic.
Watching 65 in the theatre was an ok experience. It is not a bad movie, but it is not a great one either, but the frustrating thing is, I feel the potential for this to be more fun and exciting was there. If you are on the fence about going to see this in the theater, you may be better off waiting for it to hit streaming.
