Movie Review # 420: Chaos Walking (2021)

Good morning everyone! Today, we are going to be diving in a futuristic science world that takes place around two hundred years from now. Starring Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Nick Jonas, Mads Mikkelsen, David Oyelowo, and a few other people, the movie is Chaos Walking.

Plot: Set in the year 2257, a colony of men have inhabited a planet called New World for quite some time. Also, the people of the planet ha e been inflicted with a condition called the Noise, a condition in which people can read other people’s thoughts. But one day, a citizen of New World named Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) sees the ruins of a ship that crash landed on New World, as well as comes across the driver of the ship, Viola Eade (Daisy Ridley), who is the first female, in a long while, to land on New World. Todd, and Viola must now travel to a space station, where Viola must contact her colony before getting caught up in a plot that could potentially be diabolical.

Now, as some of us may know, Lionsgate, the company that helped make this film, has not always been the best at making good stories. Was this film any different? Well, yes, and no. Compared to other films that have been made by the company over the past decade, maybe more, like the Twilight movie series, Chaos Walking did seem to improve in a few areas. However, at the same, it is certainly no masterpiece. In fact, Chaos Walking could have improved in some areas. First of all, the world building, and the story overall, could have been better developed. By the end of this film, you find yourself asking quite a few questions, including “How did the colonists come to discover New World in the first place?”, or “How did the Noise become a condition, and/or possibly even a pandemic in the first place?” Truthfully, if there was a way that this film could have focused on answering questions like those, and maybe cut down on the two main characters’ journey to their destiny, then maybe they should have done that, you know? On top of that, not many of the characters stand out. That is except for maybe our main leads, and the villain of this film. Oh man, the villain, he is one that could be well written in terms of good character development, and things like that. Also, the film may have some pacing issues at some points as well

Nevertheless, there are some good things in this film as well. First off, of course the villain, along with Todd, and Viola are of course the most likable characters in this movie. Additionally, Chaos Walking can potentially provide some very valuable lessons, most notably how people need to ask questions when necessary, and that people in leadership CANNOT always be trusted. What’s more is that the film does at least break some cliches here and there, particularly with building momentum on people like Todd, and Viola’s relationship. Oh, and if you want a film with one, or two good plot twists, if not more, then all the more reason to try and check out this film. Also, for a movie that’s in live action, the visuals are very good too, especially when it comes to showing the thoughts that people think. Oh, and the acting, that’s also very good as well. Considering that the acting in Lionsgate movies like Twilight, and maybe other films produced by the company didn’t always seem all that great, that’s likely saying something.

And that’s my review for Chaos Walking. While Lionsgate didn’t seem to have quite gotten there yet with making a really great film, Chaos Walking does seem to have taken a step more in the right direction in terms of trying to get there. Not to mention that Chaos Walking seemed to be better than recent sci-fi films like Ad Astra (which was NOT made by Lionsgate, but still). I would say that if you want to see a film from Lionsgate that at least seems to go more in the right direction, despite still needing some improvements here and there, I would say see it, if you can go to a theater that offers tickets at a cheaper price. Even then, definitely try to see it, and see what you think with there being improvements like a fairly good story, a couple stand out characters, good plot twists, and potentially good lessons to take away from this film.

Final Grade: C+