Chaos Walking review

After more than a decade of releasing young adult films based on novels, it is becoming more and more difficult to release films that stand out from the crowd. And these days, you need a very distinguished cast, a talented director, a highly praiseworthy book, and a really interesting central plot in order to have a chance to succeed. Chaos Walking, directed by Doug Lehman (Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity), has all the ingredients required for success, but he can't find a way to coherently make it work to tell an interesting story.

Chaos Walking is based on the first novel in the Patrick Ness series of novels of the same name (Ness also co-wrote the script) and tells the story of Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland), a teenager who grew up on the planet New World colony. And life on this strange planet does not come without disadvantages, especially if you are a male, as the males on the New World planet are affected by the so-called Noise, a condition that makes their thoughts materialize outwardly and thus everyone sees and hears them. Some men are able to direct their thoughts or "noise" to appear as a bright mirage, and Todd is showing promising signs in this area. Only treacherous Mayor Prentice (Mads Mikkelsen) is able to fully control the noise, even suppress it at will, and use that preference to wield ultimate power over the settlement of Brentestown that appears to be the only settlement on the planet.

While the sheriff has a bit of affection for Todd, things change when Viola (Daisy Ridley), a scout from the next wave of New World settlers, crashes into the bush. Since Todd has never met a girl before, he decides to risk his life for her and go on a trip to help her find her crew. And yes, given that Todd has never met a girl before and is still unable to prevent his thoughts from materializing and coming to light, this poses a number of problems to their growing relationship.

For those who haven't read the Ness novels, the movie's biggest draw will be the presence of Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley in the tournament. Especially with the filming of Chaos Walking right after the huge success of Holland and Ridley in the role of Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Ray in the Star Wars series respectively, it is clear that Kevin Feige and JJ Abrams knew how to use their powers better than the directors here did. But neither Holland's magic nor Ridley's enthusiasm here gets a chance to shine. Instead Holland and Ridley play their roles very directly most of the time. The duo might get a chance to shine a little more when the script for Nice and co-author Christopher Ford requires some comedy, but these moments are few and far between in the movie. And given that she is (almost) the only female character in the movie, Viola in particular is looking extremely submerged.

Chaos Walking places a lot of his hopes on the science fiction aspect at the center of his story, but he's too burdensome for the idea of ​​Noise. In Act 1, the film spends a lot of time explaining how noise affects everyday life in Printestown, mainly by showing the brain of a teenager Todd, who is rushing to analyze his world. But Todd's repeated "noise" notes quickly become boring and outdated early on, undermining key explanations of how "noise" works, such as the scene in which Todd uses it to conjure a snake to scare his rival. Once the character Viola gets into the picture and Todd detaches from all the chaos in Brinitztown, the "noise" becomes more tolerable. It is used creatively to show Todd imagining himself holding Viola in a chase scene, and with good comedic effect in an intimate moment between the two.

But aside the few witty comedic moments, we often feel that “noise” is not bound by any rules or any consistency. There are many times when we do not hear a character’s noise (especially a character who is not wanting) at a time when you feel you should hear it, and the naivety extends to the point that men who are accustomed to “noises” as part of their daily life can be easily fooled by others when it is used against them. . None of this helps the subtle visual effects that have been used to embody “noise”, and this is especially evident when the embodied ideas include images of actors in the colorful haze surrounding the men's heads.

Worst of all, "noise" is seldom used effectively in promoting Chaos Walking's story or themes. The film clearly introduces themes like personal independence and negative male dominance, but given that Viola is the only character in the film who is not accustomed to "noise" while busy with her mission, Chaos Walking seldom finds a reason to pause and engage in in-depth conversations on those topics. Lyman appears to be content with moving to the next chase or fight scene rather than pausing to explore what it might mean, for example by encouraging "noise" to not cry because it detracts from his masculinity and the effect this has on his personality.

Although Lehmann is famous for its impressive action scenes, none of these action scenes contain much excitement. This may be one of the worst miscalculations made by Chaos Walking: The noise ends up being a tool for telling a story much more interesting than the predictable plot and action scenes that have fallen into mere add-ons to the movie. And this is not the only element that the film fails to develop in plot, as there is a whole local creature genre involved in the killing of Printestown females called THE SPACKLE who are represented on screen during only one scene by only one creature, as if it were only one alien creature. Chaos Walking tends to transcend many answers to important questions like these.

One of the side effects might be Chaos Walking years after finishing main filming, and thus benefit from having a cast of stars. Perhaps this production would have been difficult to put together again had it been produced in 2021. Along with Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, who are both Currently the most iconic face thanks to the Marvel and Star Wars franchises of the past five years, veteran sinister actor Mads Mikkelsen enjoys putting his spooky character on Mayor Prentice, who roams around in a flashy fur coat with a rifle fastened directly to the center of his belt. Obviously, accuracy is not one of Chaos Walking's strengths.

David Oyelowo, Cynthia Erivo, Dimian Bashir and Nick Jonas complete the list of supporting cast. There is a clear feeling that everyone is trying to succeed in their roles, but, with the exception of Prentice by Mikkelsen, and the enthusiastic and distinctive preacher character Aaron of Oilo, the script does not give the rest of the actors many special moments. For example, Nick Jonas' character, David Prentice, was appointed as Todd's rival early on, but you will hardly remember him by the end of the movie.

Chaos Walking doesn't make enough use of its talented cast of actors or the new "noise" idea that has plagued the males of its world. Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley may be a compelling and interesting duo, but unfortunately the creative team does not support them, or support the idea of ​​where the film's focus should be. With the few sparkling and interesting moments spaced apart, it becomes difficult for Chaos Walking to convince you, especially given the increased popularity of the actors in the years since filming the film, making the reunification of the crew again for a second part almost impossible. Fans of fiction might be better off waiting for another reboot of the franchise series. Maybe if we get enough fanfare, HBO might implement what it did with its series His Dark Materials and give these novels a new lease on life.