Boss Level

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)

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)

The story looks like it was written by two 10 y.o. boys and Joen Carnaham helped them to turn that into a script. Even if that was the case, it would be fine, really, because Boss Level is mostly good fun (I’m seriously lacking comedies among the genres) with only the occasionally unlikeable Frank Grillo. (03/31/2023)

Hmm, that a film called Boss Level doesn’t have, well, a boss level was quite a surprise. Otherwise, this is a likeable action time loop with a video game logic, where Frank Grillo has many attempts to overcome numerous obstacles in order to reach the final boss performed by Mel Gibson. And, as it’s clear from the opening statement of this review, the climax with Mel Gibson was not very satisfactory. But yeah, I had fun, I was in the mood for something this silly and easygoing, so bugger it, 4*, though I can imagine I would trash it if I were in a different mood; objectively, it’s bollocks after all… (11/29/2020)

A tight action B-movie with a time loop reminiscent of a video game with the excellent Frank Grillo, who has quite possibly the best performance of his career. The main character wakes up every morning with a bunch of assassins trying to kill him for reasons unknown, and when he fails, his day resets again. Very entertaining and playfully with lots of ideas, fine lines, and decent action, even though there are no proper fights or shootouts, it's mostly very spectacular and quick disposals, but it doesn't matter too much. Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts are just for show, but even in such a small space Mel managed to impress me, especially with his story with the snake. Good fun. Story****, Action****, Humor****, Violence***, Entertainment****, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****. 8/10. (11/24/2020)