If you've read the books...forget about them. LMAO. This movie takes the original plot and YEETS it ten minutes in...LITERALLY. Ten minutes into the set up and I'm whispering over to my friend, "Wait, did this happen??" (Spoiler alert: It did not.) My friend (shoutout Megan) and I were constantly asking "WTF IS GOING ON" but not necessarily in a bad way? If you're a stickler for the books, you'll be disappointed, but if you're willing to see where this adaption takes you, I think you'll be in for a pleasant ride. Disregarding book accuracy, I think the movie does a great job setting up a very complex premise and telling a rounded story (although it definitely helps that I've read the books and already knew the world). The way they depicted the Noise was absolutely gorgeous and genius; it was my main concern when they announced this would be hitting the big screen. How do you visualize something like that, you know? I think they really pulled it off, and Todd Hewitt's constant thoughts out loud with Tom Holland's dorky charm made this movie a lot funnier than I thought it would be.

If they don't make a sequel for this (I'd be surprised if they make enough money and attention to do so), I'm not going to be too disappointed. The movie ends on a solid note that is pretty satisfactory, but it does leave room for a sequel (especially for non-book watchers who definitely would have more questions than answers). Really, this movie at its core was just trying to cram too much stuff in, so some of the plot points come across as shallow and thrown in just to advance the plot. If you read the book, you can fill in the gaps, but if you didn't, it might come across as an overly ambitious sci-fi trying to capitalize on Holland's current stardom. Not that I'm complaining...we all know I'm only watching Cherry for him. HA.

I haven’t read the source material. I didn’t even know it was based on a novel until I read it in the opening credits. That said, I can’t make any comparisons, but if the novel is at least 50% the same as the movie, then it’s a waste of time.

Although I find interesting the premise of a planet whose atmosphere (or magnetic field) has that effect on all males species, I think it was poorly executed. I’m a linguist and I feel that the writers have no idea what cognitive science says about Steven Pinker’s “Mentalese”. The human brain doesn’t work with a specific language and the visible effect would probably be more abstract, with more images and fewer words. Also, given that Todd grew up in the planet, it’s only natural that he would become a freaking expert on how to control his noise and use it in the most creative ways, pretty much as the Mayor. After all, it’s nothing more than an extension of your way of expressing yourself. It’s just clumsy and lazy writing… the possibilities are endless. What I get is that the noise is gone when they speak, as if the brain stops thinking when they speak.

Instead, we get a story that doesn’t even explore what it shows. What about the native species? It leaves you with nothing.

I don’t know… it’s just a very lazy movie.

Doug Liman's Chaos Walking has been stuck in development and plagued by production issues for over four years, but it is finally here. The story is set in a world where a virus wiped out all women and bestowed a phenomenon called "the Noise" on men, making their thoughts and feelings visible to others. The main character, Todd Hewitt, played by Holland, believes that all women are gone until he meets Daisy Ridley's character, Viola. The premise of the story has potential, but it is not fully explored or developed. The idea of the Noise could have been delved into more, but it is only touched on when it is convenient for the plot. The narrative is also rather uninspired. Despite these shortcomings, the performances by Holland, Ridley, and Mikkelsen keep the audience engaged, and the occasional action scenes are well done. The story is standard and efficient, but it is watchable and contains a few memorable moments. It is an uneven final product that is a bit janky and formulaic, but it can be enjoyed. With YA adaptations like The Darkest Minds and The Mortal Instruments, it has a chance to stand out but don't expect a sequel anytime soon.
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Chaos Walking de Doug Liman ha estado atascado en el desarrollo y plagado de problemas de producción durante más de cuatro años, pero finalmente está aquí. La historia está ambientada en un mundo donde un virus acabó con todas las mujeres y otorgó un fenómeno llamado "el ruido" a los hombres, haciendo que sus pensamientos y sentimientos sean visibles para los demás. El personaje principal, Todd Hewitt, interpretado por Holland, cree que todas las mujeres se han ido hasta que conoce al personaje de Daisy Ridley, Viola. La premisa de la historia tiene potencial, pero no está completamente explorada o desarrollada. La idea del Ruido se podría haber profundizado más, pero solo se toca cuando conviene a la trama. La narrativa también es bastante aburrida. A pesar de estas deficiencias, las actuaciones de Holland, Ridley y Mikkelsen mantienen a la audiencia interesada y las escenas de acción ocasionales están bien hechas. La historia es estándar y eficiente, pero se puede ver y contiene algunos momentos memorables. Es un producto final desigual que es un poco torpe y formulado, pero se puede disfrutar. Con adaptaciones YA como The Darkest Minds y The Mortal Instruments, tiene la oportunidad de sobresalir, pero no esperes una secuela en el corto plazo.

In 2257 AD, the colonists of the planet New World, all men, have been afflicted with a condition called the Noise, which causes everyone to see and hear each other's thoughts. Judging by the level of intelligence the characters exhibit, this ought be a deafeningly silent planet.

People who colonize a new world and literally call it "New World" can't have much in their minds (perhaps they should have called it Planet Faulkner, since everyone here seems to think in an uncontrollable stream of consciousness and/or has the mental faculties of a Benjy Compson). When sort of halo envelops their heads when they 'think,' it’s like the light is on but no one’s home.

The only one here who manages to avoid appearing like a complete idiot is Mads Mikkelsen, and only because the Danish actor is too smart to play this dumb; his character, David Prentiss, is not particularly brilliant, but one can at least give him the benefit of the doubt — after all, he’s more insane than he is inane.

Prentiss is the only one who has learned to control his "Noise", which shouldn't be too difficult; ever heard the expression 'think before you speak?' I don’t think it’d really be all that hard to 'think before you think;' these characters, however, are mentally incontinent.

Either director Doug Liman and screenwriters Patrick Ness and Christopher Ford are as dumb as the movie they've made, or they assume the audience is. For some reason, women can see and hear men's thoughts, but men can't see and hear women’s — making the “Noise” nothing more than a clumsy allegory for female intuition.
This actually has to do directly with the lack of women in Prentisstown (of which, as the name suggests, Prentiss is the mayor), in a twist preposterous enough to make M. Night Shyamalan himself scratch his head in disbelief.

Adapting a series of books into a movie is often a daunting task. As anyone who has seen many Stephen King adaptations can attest; plot complexity, characters, and depth are removed in order to condense the story into a two-hour or less run time.

The rise of streaming services has allowed many books to be adapted into series without having to cut much of the adult content in the books which would make it difficult for network television.

As such it makes adaptations such as “Chaos Walking” a delicate undertaking. The film is based on a series of books and stars Tom Holland as Todd; a young ma living on a distant world where there are no women and people can hear and see each other’s thoughts by a process known as “Noise”.

Their rustic colony is run with a firm hand by their Mayor (Mads Mikkelsen); who keeps those around him from seeing his thoughts which gives him a big advantage over those who rule.

When a landing craft from a mothership filled with a new wave of colonists crashes on the planet; Todd is shocked to find that the only survivor is a woman named Viola (Daisy Ridley) whose arrival disrupts the community.

The Mayor wishes to keep her from contacting her ship so they can seize it when it lands to maintain control of his empire as he sees the arrival of new individuals as a threat to his power.

Todd and Viola escape trying to reach a distant colony where she hopes to find a way to warn her ship about the danger the Mayor and his men present and they pursue the duo to keep this from happening.

The film lightly touches on the native race that Todd believes killed all the women of their colony but they are not visited save for a brief appearance. It is clear that the Mayor is hiding something and the reveal of what and why is fairly underwhelming which reduces him and most of his followers as thinly developed stock characters.

There is also the mystery as to why the Mothership does not bother to do any sort of follow up when they did not hear from their lander and like many aspects of the film; require the audience to simply go along with things and not ask too many questions to make things work.

Thankfully the two leads are interesting enough and they hold attention even when the story is slowly moving along with scene after scene of rivers, woods, and a little conversation.

One big issue with the film is the Noise as the visualization of thoughts as well as hearing them mixed in with verbal communication can get very confusing as it is like multiple voices in a crowded room.

Despite the issues, the potential is there and I found myself wondering what was next for the characters and hope that they do adapt future books in the series. While the film on its own does not work as a fully developed story’ as an introduction to the series it does enough to peak the interests for more.

3.5 out of 5