65 is a beautifully made film, with two performers (Adam Driver and Arian Greenblatt) who carry the promise of adventure effectively and believably.
65 takes place 65 million years ago where pilot Mills (Adam Driver) convinced his wife he should take a two year space journey to earn funds to care for his daughter’s illness. On the return trip to his home planet Somaris, his ship it caught in an astroid storm damaged and crash landed on what is Earth 65 million years ago.
The passengers in suspended sleep are killed except for Mills and one young girl, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt). The film script revolves around their action as they attempt to traverse difficult wooded territory, rivers and a mountain edge to reach their escape pod which landed a distance from where their half of the ship crashed.
Directors Beck and Woods keep the action and fear high throughout the film. However this is not a horror situation there is little blood and we know the two will survive together. It’s like experiencing a Saturday afternoon serial from the forties without waiting a week for the results.
The two bravely and creatively push each other contributing to safety. They use small red exploding flashing balls and a charging multiple round long gun to blow up invading creatures. Koa quickly learns that certain strawberries can destroy the creatures from the Cretaceous period and makes a weapon from a towel filled with the poison that she can jam into the attacking animals.
Koa is not a typical frighten kid, she learns and fights back by trapping one smaller animal in a hollow log by closing off each end. The two who do not share a language come together effectively and in a manner that has logic to it.
This is one film where the CGI is not the dominating force, but it is constantly just where it is needed. It creates a constant flow of danger for the two who are fighting to escape from Earth before the massive destructive astroid storm reaches the planet. They do it all as they outsmart, out run and destroy a giant theropod and two large Tyrannosaurus rex who are looking to make them lunch.
The chosen background probably would not fit the Cretaceous period, but it has an atmosphere of wilderness and beauty that is exotic and curious enough, to transmit the feeling of an alien land.
65 will keep you on the edge of your seat but will not gross you out, it will entertain with fun, action and danger.