Review : Chaos Walking (2021)
It seems that two types of films emerged from the depths created for the entertainment industry by COVID-19. The first were the films too big to release in the midst of a pandemic : movies like Black Widow, A Quiet Place II and No Time To Die already had promotional campaigns in place prior to theaters and studios grinding to a halt. The second type of film, however, were the notorious properties studios had wrapped production on but were afraid to pull the trigger on. Previously, I covered one of these films in the form of The Woman in the Window, and I found that not knowing about the film’s rocky path towards release helped me enjoy it on its own merits. This is what built my fascination for Chaos Walking, a film that took nearly a decade to release and another couple to see the light of day.
There are some good ideas going on in this film. For starters, the premise of the noise is definitely one that works in narrative form, but with the old adage of film being “show, don’t tell”, translating this concept to a visual medium is already an uphill battle. There is quite a bit of inconsistency in how this device is used… not so much from person to person, as it is explained numerous times that some men are better at hiding their noise than others (a nod to how well some men swallow their trauma rather than address it), but mostly in the portrayal of Todd, our protagonist, who is prone to fits of random explicit language in his normal processing, but completely silent in a life or death fight, where I feel the noise would be savagely overwhelming and distracting. The noise works the best as a tool for examining the patriarchal framework, be it David Prentiss and his fatherhood figurehead status backed with ideals, Todd and his toxic disillusionment in regards to what makes a man, or perhaps most tragically, in the form of Aaron, a supposed man of faith filled with a rage caused by his maniacal obsession with the possible demonic origins of his noise. Maybe the analogy is a bit heavy-handed, especially when held in comparison to the women, whose silence seems to imply either a devious nature or a lesser prowess in terms of whatever symbol of thought the noise portrays, but with the film acting as a hopeful entry point for a supposed trilogy, one can hope and/or assume that this dynamic would be flipped in terms of examination eventually.
Where the film really falters, however, is in the number of elements it tries to hang importance upon, as the imbalance comes off as distractions in the bigger picture. Perhaps the biggest of these unnecessary elements is the entire idea of the new planet and the unfulfilled threat that is the Spackle. Like some sort of antagonist straw man, the Spackle are presented as a genocidal threat, positioned as a possible moral dilemma via their existence at the same time a hint of their ability to be a threat is shown, but in the end, they have such little impact on the story that the film may as well take place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. If anything, having Viola arrive via a spacecraft is redundant, like bringing sand to a beach (even if she is a woman)... perhaps she could have been a humanoid alien, or an alien mimicking humans, especially in light of the fact that isolated colonies with completely different political and social structures exist in this world. The number of conflicts that exist in the film work for a long form story, but come off as a bit convoluted, with Todd’s mother and father’s past, the dark history of Prentisstown, the inherent conflict from the community of Farbranch and even the Spackle all deserving more time and focus in a non-shared capacity. The community of Prentisstown was also a bit too populated for a community full of men, and would have been better served to be David Prentiss, his son, a handful of faithful followers and Todd, the reluctant adopted son of someone surviving on the outskirts of the community.
The special effect meant to symbolize the noise worked very well all things considered, thought the logic of people being able to project multiple objects that will physically impede another individual is a bit far-reaching, especially when the average visual is a small multi-colored haze. For small-scale action, the sequences do add a boost of energy into the somewhat monotonous story arc, with the overarching narrative really only consisting of 2 or 3 significant beats. The special effects used to create the environments are able to simulate believable worlds that mirror aspects of Earth, but with an overrun or uncharted feel being the dominant environmental presence, mostly to a great effect. The tower set and the downed spaceship near the end of the film in particular serve as two very memorable locations in terms of their aesthetic quality and utility in terms of progressing the narrative. The worst part of the disarming production design for the Spackle was that it was underused. The writing is ok, with a few good ideas present, but it is 100% elevated by the cast.
Tom Holland has the troubled youth role on lock these days, with Chaos Walking continuing to show his range in terms of teenage angst, uncertainty and fear about supposed accepted illustrations of manhood. Daisy Ridley does find herself being used mostly in a modified “damsel in distress” capacity, leading to most of her important story beats serving as reactionary to Holland’s characterization of Todd... perhaps she was to have more to do in the following films, but likely, these films will not be made, leaving her character the most underdeveloped of the film. Mads Mikkelsen brings a heightened sense of dignity meant to mask a troubled and deeply regretful leader who has bought too far into his own lie to face the truth. Nick Jonas, though entertaining in his oafishness and bruteness, also falls a bit into the one-note category. David Oyelowo brings the most personal tension to the table of all the characters, with his faith working in tandem with his fear to tear his soul and psyche apart. Kurt Sutter and Demián Bichir play the adoptive fathers to the Todd character, with Bichir especially getting moments to shine in terms of showing parental unconditional love and compassion. Cynthia Erivo turns in a brief but powerful performance as the antithesis to the Prentiss presentation of women, while Ray McKinnon, Bethany Anne Lind, Harrison Osterfield and others round out the remaining cast.
While Chaos Walking isn’t the disaster that the masses are chalking it up to be, it is a movie with obvious flaws that, unfortunately, will not likely get a chance to redeem itself via sequels. With a wealth of dystopian YA films already out on the market that have explored the complete spectrum of teenage issues, Chaos Walking doesn’t bring enough new to the table to stand out from the crowd, and if not for a stellar cast, it would likely be as forgettable in theory as it is mocked in reality. Seeing that I went into the viewing expecting bad, I can say that I actually enjoyed my watch, but I couldn’t honestly tell you if or when I would revisit this film.
