Boss Level

The edge of yesterday. The motif of repeating a day for self-reflection and character redemption has become commonplace in recent years, much like the nostalgic framing of old video games. When you add to that digital explosions and splashes of blood as if you were spraying a ficus with a misting bottle, along with several dead spots where Mel is rambling and a screenwriting aimlessness that, as the end approaches, sinks to the level of straight-to-VHS sci-fi, it doesn't provide any more complex entertainment or lightness, nor the grilling charisma of the main character. (25/11/2020)

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)

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. (27/11/2020)

It’s a bit of a shame that Mel Gibson plays the bad guy here, but on the flip side, Frank Grillo fits the hero role perfectly. I’ve always seen him as more of a supporting actor, but here he absolutely nails it as the action hero caught in a time loop. Speaking of time loops, they never seem to get old, do they? Boss Level ends up being one of the most entertaining action flicks in recent months. The action is top-notch, the story is classic, but you’ll love the creative twists the filmmakers have thrown in. (16/06/2021)

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. (11/12/2020)