Boss Level

Original, fast-paced, fun. Understandably, it doesn't surpass the conceptually similar Edge of Tomorrow, the plot is too trivial for that, but that was not the intention. Carnahan sets the viewer on a sarcastic note from the start and doesn't take his foot off the gas until the very end, which is appropriately weird. The buffed-up Grillo shows that he can be a pretty likeable dad in addition to a perfect figure, so for daring to take his acting creations a step further, it's definitely a thumbs up. Gibson, meanwhile, plays his grizzled bad-ass standard of recent years. (12/11/2020)

Boss Level is a sufficiently fun and humorous action movie about a time loop, but after this year's refreshing Palm Springs, I found it a bit low for this subgenre. Mel Gibson needed more room to act, he practically enters to reel off a typically antagonistic monologue, but then he just turns up sporadically here and there during the rest of the movie. No epic "boss fight" takes place in the final. When the closing credits start to roll, you expect them to stop and the actual final scene to appear. But it never comes. In the end, the highlight of the movie is actually the bonding of the main character with his son, but for most of the rest, including the comically diverse minibosses, this movie is quite forgettable. However, it is quite a decent watch for what it is, but just not as good as it could and should be. (11/27/2020)

A inoffensive combination of Frank Grillo, action carnage and a fresh mix of Edge of Tomorrow style and arcade gameplay with a shoot through to the final boss. Perhaps a bit of a shame that the action didn't step on the gas more, that Mel Gibson didn't have a more prominent villain role, and that there's 20 minutes of conservative love story filler and emotional wringing from the father-son bond, but otherwise I enjoyed the film in places. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's still one of those less annoying action B-movies. (01/20/2023)

For B-movie silliness with a video-game concept, Boss Level has a surprisingly fresh and imaginative screenplay with twists that take the story clichés twice as far in the plot as you would expect. And with a lot of original funny moments. Non-stop entertainment with a pleasantly light tone that (thank God) doesn’t take itself seriously at all. (12/12/2020)

What a bolt from the blue! Seriously, I hadn’t heard anything about this film, and suddenly—bam!—it’s the B-movie of the year, without a doubt! In the current not-so-optimistic climate where new films are scarce, I enthusiastically welcomed this creation from the skilled filmmaker Joe Carnahan. Visually, it’s a cheap B-movie straight out of the '90s, the kind that would land on DVD shelves. But the energy radiating from every frame and the simple, dry humor of the main character surprisingly worked wonders for me. Frank Grillo can definitely mark this film as a successful notch on his belt, and it might even be his best work in Hollywood. He’s incredibly charismatic and ripped (it’s a shame he isn’t, say, 10 years younger)! The story doesn’t offer any surprises; it borrows a lot from other films dealing with the repeating-day concept, but the comedic element really saves it. There are moments where you’ll genuinely laugh from the heart, take my word for it. It also includes some quite surprising twists within the limits of its screenplay. I’ll definitely revisit it; such a cheap yet successful little film is not something you see every day. For me, it’s a strong 7/10. (11/25/2020)