Boss Level 2021 on Hulu
More fun that Free Guy. There’s some actual creativity at work here and they do some fun things with their core concept. The main character exists in a time loop that resets when bounty hunters kill him for reasons unknown.
It’s hampered by some weird choices:
- Certain visuals suggest the main character is in a videogame. I think the filmmakers just wanted to play with game-like concepts but they thought the audience was too stupid to “get it” without help? Or maybe it was supposed to take place in a game but they changed their minds? I’m interested in hearing other opinions on this.
- There’s a stupid example of swords beating guns. An enemy with a sword runs down an open hall towards the main character who has a fully automatic firearm. She doesn’t use of cover and at all in the scene and there’s no way he would miss given his established marksmanship. I’d have been OK with even a bad explanation (like in Equilibrium) but there is no explanation for why she succeeds. In fact, the main character has to learn to use swords in order to beat the sword master! As if he wouldn’t be able to shoot her even with foreknowledge of her intentions. STUPID
- The movie explicitly clarifies that the swords used are not Katanas but rather Chinese swords. It feels like blatant pandering to the Chinese market. There’s nothing wrong with using something besides a Katana, it’s the weird way they stopped and explained it that’s the problem.
- There’s scene where the movie practically pauses for a moment to say basically “anti-semitism is bad”. It just felt weird, like the writers were trying to speak to someone in the film industry whose good side they wanted to be on—very forced.
If you have Hulu and just need an action-y popcorn flick I’d recommend this film. Might be best to watch with friends/family and a drink in hand. Just don’t expect too much and you probably won’t be disappointed.