Troubled journey not worth the hassle Intriguing premise gets botched
Despite teaming up the stars who played Star Wars’ Rey and Spider-Man, the aptly named Chaos Walking endured a troubled journey to our screens.
The film actually finished shooting in November 2017 but was deemed “unreleasable” by Lionsgate studios who ordered major reshoots.
Not a great background, then, for this adaptation of Patrick Ness’ young adult book trilogy, although director Doug Liman proved with Edge of Tomorrow that he can helm scintillating sci-fi.
Tom Holland (Todd) and Daisy Ridley (Viola) star as unlikely companions trapped on a planet where people’s thoughts are seen and heard by everyone.
It’s a very arresting premise that, coupled with an eye-catching cast that also includes Mads Mikkelsen (Mayor Prentiss), David Oyelowo (Aaron) and Cynthia Erivo (Hildy), could have defied the movie’s rocky history and provided us with a modern classic.
Unfortunately, what follows is a disappointment which isn’t bad enough to enter turkey territory but suffers from the most criminal thing a big-budget flick with an intriguing plot can serve up – it’s dull.
Portraying people’s thoughts visually was always going to be a tough task but Liman botches this crucial gimmick by saddling it with dodgy CGI bubbles.
Holland and Ridley could never be anything other than watchable at worst but they both struggle in the digitalheavy world and it’s left to Mikkelsen to save the day with a mysterious, mischievous turn.
The script, co-written by Ness and Christopher Ford (Spider-Man: Homecoming), leaves no room for levity when the film could really have done with taking itself a little less seriously.
This isn’t the easiest environment to talk your way through, however much of the dialogue comes across as cheesy and some of Todd’s proclamations are downright cringeworthy.
Despite some decent acting and one or two surprises, Chaos Walking is undoubtedly a misfire that leaves you wondering what might have been if surer hands had got hold of the books.
●What are your thoughts on Chaos Walking? Do you have a favourite bookto-film adaptation?
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