Chock-a-block with old school mega stars, and a virtual who's who of in front of camera talent, the oh so very horribly titled "Boss Level" (a hat tip to the 8 bit video games of yore?) is a surprisingly entertaining take on the "time loop" tropes of "Ground Hog Day", "Edge of Tomorrow", "Source Code", and so forth.

I came across this unsung little gem purely by chance on a streaming site, and, was going to give it a pass, but upon looking at the all star cast, mostly in smaller roles, I became intrigued as to why they would "stoop so low" as to grace this film with their presence. Now we all well realize that Mel Gibson, as great of an actor as he is, has had more than his share of career ending faux pas, misspeaks, and errors of judgement, so, his appearance isn't that surprising, although, thankfully, he hasn't yet fallen to Bruce Willis' levels of derision and animosity among his fellow thespians. But Michelle Yeoh, Naomi Watts, Ken Jeong, and Will Sasso? If this were a "directed by Martin Scorsese" joint, or a Sci-Fi "Heavens Gate", I could get why folks would jump at the chance, but Joe Carnahan is better known for such "shoot em ups" as "Smokin Aces" "The "A" Team" and "The Grey" Movies.

The thing is, with a better title and a slightly altered cast, I really think this would be a bankable actioner rather than a Hulu "straight to streaming throw-away. Frank Grillo does a fine job as the reluctant protagonist, but, I could also see Jason Statham wheel kicking his way though this one. Swap out Selina Lo with Lisa Liu as Guan Yin, ("...who has done this"...) and things start to get interesting. In fact, if you squint just right, you can almost see the main tier stars the entire hit squad was substituting for. (Queen Latifa, Michelle Rodriquez, Peter Dinklage, to name a few)

Yet, it still WORKS, and also manages to bring a bit of freshness to a well worn genre. Plenty of humor as well as great action and practical stunts throughout. Also, the ending wasn't wrapped up with a bow, and even there, they aurally "paid homage" to the ending of "Inception", leaving the viewer to ponder what happened. I liked it, and I can whole heartedly give it a positive recommendation.

The absolute cheek of Hulu calling this a "Hulu Original" when it was originally announced in _2012_, got stuck in development hell at 20th Century Fox, then was planned to release under Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, then the release was postponed, re-announced, delayed again before the film leaked a few months ago…

Hulu, you had nothing to do with creating this movie; please don't brand it like you did.

I'm also interested in any background on why the version Hulu released this week runs only 94 minutes, when IMDB indicates the runtime should be 100 minutes. What did they cut? I wonder…

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I have to admit that it's fun. The characters are _all_ pretty flat, even Roy, but the concept is cool enough even if [spoiler]Mel Gibson makes for a really lame villain with no depth whatsoever[/spoiler].

Where others objected to the title, I thought "Boss Level" was fairly apt. Roy's experience mirrors what a gamer might have to do in order to clear a particularly difficult level in a video game. That worked really well for me—much better than the characters.

You think Selina Lo ever got tired of saying, "I am Guan Yin, and Guan Yin has done this"? :joy:

What simultaneously saves and sinks Boss Level is that co-writer/director Joe Carnahan handles the material as if it were a video game, so that the conventions of the time loop genre suddenly make perfect sense; for example, whenever the hero dies, he respawns at the previous checkpoint while retaining the knowledge gained from previous attempts (any gamer will tell you that sometimes the only way to beat a level is knowing beforehand what’s coming).

Thus, when Roy (Frank Grillo) needs a vehicle, he simply procures himself one à la Grand Theft Auto. And every time Guan-Yin (Selina Lo) kills him, she says her catchphrase “I am Guan-Yin, and Guan-Yin has done this”.

She repeats this phrase so much it’s infuriating, but that’s precisely the point – to recreate the experience of having a Boss kick your ass so bad (and taunt you mercilessly in the process) that you just have to keep coming back for more, relishing in advance the moment when you finally get the best of him/her.

The problem with this is that once Roy figures out where he has to go and what he has to do, and that he has unlimited opportunities to go there and do that, the film is drained of all sense of urgency, becoming as engaging as watching someone else play a video game for hours on end. Even the end of the world is no big deal when there is literally one every day; after all, Roy will always wake up in his bed and the world will always be there for him to save.

Grillo’s cocky neanderthal schtick is an acquired taste, but considering that his character suffers what essentially is a Rasputinian Death in increments, it’s safe to say that Roy pays his dues. Moreover, Roy shares some genuinely emotional scenes with his preteen son – who happens to be Grillo’s real-life son as well. And then there’s Mel Gibson as the sinister and menacing main villain (Will Sasso, as his lackey, is also surprisingly effective). This is the second time in as many years, following Force of Nature, that Gibson’s presence alone is enough to elevate what would otherwise be little more than a collection of clichés.

At its core, the model is still the Phil Connors self-improvement plan. In trying to finally make it to tomorrow, will Roy become a better father, a better ex-husband, a better version of himself? 28 years ago, Murray and writer/director Harold Ramis wrung this ingenious conceit for everything it was worth. All a diverting riff like 'Boss Level' can do is throw a few sword fights and bazookas in with the recycled pleasures and hope they look like its own. It's inchoate, but mostly fun.
- Jake Watt

Read Jake's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-boss-level-nostalgic-action-and-quirky-foes

"Live Die Repeat" with less sense and more beheadings. The movie had us, lost us, had me, lost me... but I stuck it out till the end. The name of the Big Bad company is DYNOW Industries. If that makes you snort, you know what type of movie this is.

I did break my "No-Mel Gibson Movie" streak. On the plus side, you get to watch Mel Gibson die more than once.

Much prefer the Joe Carnahan Frank Grillo film "Cop Shop" - see that instead.