The Stream: How many times are these same plot devices going to be used?

The Big Screen: Adam Driver as an action hero.

The Final Bill: An unoriginal story can still be entertaining with Adam Driver killing dinosaurs.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Writers: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Stars: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rating: PG-13 for intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images
Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes
Production Companies: Bron Creative, Beck Woods, Columbia Pictures, Raimi Productions, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Platform: In theaters March 10, 2023

Isn’t it good to have a new Adam Driver movie, Streamers? I know the recent run, which includes White Noise, House of Gucci and The Last Duel, has been that great, but he always brings it, right? Anyway, the trailer for 65 has been running for months and the movie is finally here. Let’s travel to this distant planet with Drive and see if these creatures are something to fret about.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who were co-writers on A Quiet Place and its sequel, wrote and directed 65. It takes place 65 million years ago on a seemingly desolate planet, so Beck and Woods have an isolation theme running through their movies. Anyway, Adam Driver plays a pilot name Mills on a distant planet, who takes a job on a 2-year space expedition in order to earn extra money for his family. Of course, everything goes wrong when Mills crash lands on an abandoned planet, Earth. There is only one other survivor, a young girl named Koa (Arianna Greenblatt). They must make their way through this unknown planet avoiding its deadly creatures in order to return home. Jurassic hijinks ensue.

The plot of 65 is very basic. Do these two people manage to stay alive in order to get off of Earth and return home? The details of the plot are very unoriginal. How many adult men and young girl surviving alone stories are their going to be? If you don’t get invested in the dynamic between Mills and Koa, then you will have a difficult time sitting through 65 even though it is a short movie.

I like Adam Driver in action hero mode. He’s very believable running through the forests and killing creatures. He has an imposing presence, which lends well to the character of Mills. Plus, he has the acting capabilities to show the emotion of being separated from his family and caring for Koa. Greenblatt playing Koa, on the other hand, isn’t as great. I guess it’s hard to judge a young kid against an Oscar-nominated actor. I’ll give her a pass, but just this once.

Lastly, the technology that is displayed is pretty cool. Mills has some gadgets that help get from point A to point B. It does seem cumbersome to use in their situation, but nevertheless it’s interesting to see. There is one fight scene that we see through the lens of one of the gadgets, which is probably the most interesting sequence in the movie. The dinosaurs look okay, too, but we’ve seen dinosaurs so much through the years that it’s not that special

Ultimately, 65 is entertaining enough despite the pretty unoriginal story because of Adam Driver. Driver commands the screen through the action and the emotional scenes. There is cool technology displayed and the dinosaurs look pretty good on the big screen. However, I can’t say this movie is special or necessary, so it’s probably fine to wait for this to come to streaming. It’s just a handful of popcorn.