Many many years ago, while Earth was still young, it was suggested that some planets had life that resembled humans and they had some pretty advanced technology. I think that’s been believed ever since Lucas started Star Wars and there are probably lots of life forms out there but they have yet to reach us. Maybe they just don’t want to, especially with what I witness these days. So anyways, this film focuses on not just other beings on other planets somehow coming to Earth at one of the worst years ever involving dinosaurs and meteors, but showing an interesting connection between two individuals. Once again, something I can somehow relate to (Yeah, I’m referencing Phoenix again). Now let’s get into 65, about the year 65 when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Supposedly.
Starting out on Planet Solaris, Mills (Adam Driver) is about to take off on a 2-year journey to make money and save his ill daughter Nevine (Chloe Coleman) but is unsure how to break the news to his little girl. However, she understands perfectly well. So Mills boards his ship the Zoic and as he takes the trip, he suddenly finds the Zoic heading straight into a cluster of asteroids compromising the cyro-chambers many ill people are in and he ends up crash-landing on a strange planet. Mills is able to recover himself, but he’s still stranded and finds the Zoic in ruins. After Mills sends an emergency beacon in hopes to get help, he spends his time on the planet and soon discovers he’s not alone when one of the chambers reveals somebody who still has a chance to live. The person is a young girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) who he helps with regaining her health. It’s not easy living on the planet though, and they must find a way to escape soon because dinosaurs are pretty vicious as we all figured out. Mills has to patrol the woods with caution and fight off any dinosaurs that dare attack him. He finds Koa outside on her own and ends up having to heal her some more, while also the two of them learn about each other. Of course, that’s pretty hard because Koa speaks a foreign language Mills doesn’t understand and can’t translate because his translator is broken. So he has to find another way to explain it to her in a drawing: They must get to the mountain where the other piece of the ship is to get an escape pod. In a matter of time, Mills and Koa make an interesting bond and he learns Koa had parents but they are now deceased. Koa learns about Nevine by looking through holographic files belonging to Mills. Eventually, Mills and Koa take a long journey through the woods together and connect through body language. At one point, they even rescue a baby dino from quicksand only for it to be devoured by a bunch of smaller dinosaurs. Then things get worse when they lose track of their destination. Mills gets injured falling out of a tree while scoping out the other half of the Zoic and is surrounded by more prehistoric beasts. Koa has to run to save herself, and Mills unleashes all the weaponry he has to kill off all these creepy lizard-things. Koa on the other hand finds herself surrounded by pterodactyls and eventually stalked by some of the lizards from earlier. Mills comes to her rescue though but Koa is too scared to go any further after all of the savage devouring and killing she just saw. Eventually, they continue moving as it gets darker, and set up shelter in a cave but Mills has to save Koa again when he finds a parasite infesting her mouth. Mills ends up all out of tools and struggles to go any further, but he and Koa find ways together to get to the mountain and once again head out of the cave to hopefully get to the sanctuary. Unfortunately, they get split up and Mills falls further downward in said cave and can’t find his way out. To make matters worse, there are creatures lurking in the dark. Will he ever escape? More importantly, will Koa survive? Especially now, there’s a huge chunky asteroid headed for the planet.
With most of the film being landscapes of CGI and fewer live actors than real ones, it may not seem like much. But it shows a duo of two completely different people who somehow find a way to connect over something. Don’t get me wrong, CGI is often 99% movie scenery these days, but despite that, it manages to be stunning and incredible and I’m impressed by the entire VFX team for all their hard work and effort. Even though there’s not much to story, it has some very intense and exciting moments. Ultimately, it gives a lot of emotions and a lot of interesting dinosaur creature types to marvel at. Wow, and to think I did some dino-gazing 2 weeks ago. Some people may say this film isn’t much, but it truly shows a lot when you pay attention to both story detail and effect detail.
65 is available on Digital and 4K UHD. DVD and Blu-Ray comes out tomorrow, so grab a copy if you want to add to your physical collection. Those still exist, right?