Dino-mite
Summary
65 delivers plenty of dino-related mayhem but also has some heartfelt moments to keep you emotionally engaged with our main characters. We’ve seen it all before in the Jurassic movies but I still enjoyed the ride and there are some impressive visuals considering the relatively modest budget.
Plot: After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth — 65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at a rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa, must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures.
Review: I recently turned 45 years old, and I still love dinosaurs every bit as much as I did when I was 5; if I see a new movie that features dinosaurs I am 100% there and I’m still hoping that we’ll get to see a live action Dino Riders movie one of these days.
Now that the Jurassic World movies have ended where will we dino lovers get our fix? Well, the new movie 65 starring Adam Driver should do the trick. The trailers made it look like it was going to be an intense ride and it delivered.
I go into some mild spoilers ahead so if you want to keep free of such things then read no further.
As we all know, the film is about a pilot who crash lands on a hostile planet that just so happens to be Earth 65 million years ago.
There were no humans at that point, just dinosaurs so our protagonist Mills (Driver) spends the movie trying to reach the other half of the crashed ship to find a way off the planet. Along the way he discovers another survivor in the form of a young girl called Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) who he slowly bonds with and becomes a father figure.
This all happens while trying to avoid becoming lunch for one of the many predators out to get them making for fast paced adventure tale. If you’ve seen the Jurassic movies then this doesn’t really add anything new as it’s mostly them running, hiding or shooting at dinosaurs but I really enjoyed the human relationship here as they are both trying to come to terms with events in their lives while also trying to survive. There is a kinetic energy to it as there is danger around every corner so we are never at ease throughout the entire runtime.
Speaking of which 65 is pleasingly short running at around an hour and 40 minutes so it’s refreshing to see a director who can actually tell a story in less than 2 and half hours. The visual effects are impressive too especially considering this has a budget of $45 million; I hope we get to see more of these mid budget movies again as I enjoyed this a lot.
Overall, 65 isn’t anything we haven’t seen before in the Jurassic movies but this feels more intense and the dinosaurs are believably fierce; I also think Adam Driver is a fantastic actor and makes something as silly as this seem authentic. Now, can we have a Dino Riders movie, please?