I'm flabbergasted by the extremely negative reviews for Chaos Walking. That you don't find it a masterpiece I can get but that you were not even remotely entertained by this movie remains a mystery to me. I was actually enjoying this quite refreshing story. It's fantasy and so I don't expect true or plausible stories. The acting wasn't bad at all and that from the entire cast so there again I don't know what's wrong with those eternal unsatisfied reviewers. If you're not too picky and like a fantasy story that has not been done before Chaos Walking is definitely worth a watch.
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*spoiler free* look, if you want to watch a film and be immersed in it's world, this is it. They're some things that could of been done better/explored more in this movie, but for the most part, it is a good movie! The cinematography, setting, acting was great!! (not a massive fan of Daisey Ridley or Tom Holland, but they did a great job!) I went in with low expectations and I came out thinking wow, that was a breath of fresh air and I'd recommend it!! Certainly needs more appreciation and less hate!!!
Thank you for reading, stay safe everyone :) -
kevin_robbins30 April 2021Chaos Walking (2021) is a movie that me and the Mrs. Recently caught in the movies. The storyline focuses on a new planet that Earths is colonizing. There are no women on the planet as they have all died. When Earth sends a human scout to check in on the planet all hell breaks loose. This movie is directed by Doug Liman (Swingers) and stars Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars), Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and Cynthia Erivo (Harriet). This is definitely more science fiction than horror but still super fun to watch unfold. This reminded me a little of Maze Runner mixed with Jumper. The action scenes and special effects are excellent as are the settings and alien . I loved the acting as well. Tom Holland was very good in this as was Mads as the protagonist. This isn't special or elite in any way but still well done and entertaining. I recommend giving this is a viewing and would score it a solid 7/10.
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johncy6 March 2021I don't understand the bad reviews, but maybe it's because I didn't read the books. Or maybe it's because this is the first movie I've seen in theaters since the pandemic began! Holland, Ridley and Mikkelsen all do a good job in their roles and the story kept me interested until the credits.
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Thanos_Alfie13 April 2021"Chaos Walking" is an Adventure - Fantasy movie in which we watch a young man helping a mysterious young girl who crashed on his planet. There all the thoughts of men are called 'Noise' because they are presented above their heads and can be heard from everyone.
I found this movie very interesting because it had a very different and new plot, something that I had not watched before. The interpretations of both Tom Holland who played as Todd and Daisy Ridley who played as Viola were very good and the combination of both worked very well. The direction which was made by Doug Liman, it was very good and he did an excellent job on how he presented both his main characters and the plot, something that made more clear a lot of things that could confuse the audience. To sum up, I have to say that "Chaos Walking" is an interesting movie and I advise you not to hear the critics and just watch it because I am sure you will enjoy it. -
rainfollower-95-64632430 March 2021This a very boring, straightforward story set in a strange, pointless and incoherent world. It will leave a lot of unanswered questions in the end unless you read all the books beforehand. What's worse, all these special properties of the world are pointless in terms of world and character development. All you see is just another Wild West with a bit of funny Noise effects and some (very little!) alien fauna, and all this never impacts the story in any meaningful way.
Tom Holland and Mads Mikkelsen are good, as expected. Even Daisy Ridley is more or less okay. Their characters are not. You can understand what drives the young Todd, he's the most developed one, still, there's a lot to reveal in his background, in his past, in his relations with the other settlers of his town. Others are worse than that. Most of them talk riddles all the time, just like in a teenager's fan fiction, and the Noise never helps there.
Another problem is the lack of reason, the lack of sense. There's just a lot of tiny little details that clearly make no sense, both in character's judgement, in their actions and in the world itself.
Overall. This is bad as a tale. This is bad science fiction. And this is also bad in terms of storytelling. What I liked: the new fresh world, and the beautiful visuals. But... that's all.
PS: No really, I've been looking at my wrist watch roughly at the middle, trying to recall how long the movie should be overall. If I had been alone, I would have probably walked out of the cinema then. -
nerman-talakic18 April 2021The movie is honestly, pretty much OK. Interesting premise that I, personally, haven't seen before. It just needs about 30 minutes more of world and character building, kinda like a Snyder cut.
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ryansalamence4 March 2021$125 million, dozens of rewrites and reshoots, tons of star power, and it hits the ground like wet cheese.
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paradiddle1610 March 2021The movie is not good nor bad. Feels to me like this could have developed into more than one movie but they crammed everything into one. Plenty of things left unexplained (from plot to characters).
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daisukereds21 April 2021It's a quaint little pseudo-Science Fiction movie. Sadly, it isn't anything memorable.
Sure, no character is annoying, there are some interesting effects and usage of the premise that was invented.. but it is a tad too simplistic (which might a positive for some). Also, it feels like it had a small budget, basically shot "in the woods" like cheap movies of old.
And for some, the concept of the noise is probably going to get old fast.. to the point where it becomes annoying, specially since it used so much without a real point.
Daisy Ridley grew on me, even if her character is a bit dry (still the only thing I really liked). The rest of the characters are just fine, even the talented Mads.
** At some point during watching it I thought.. this is something Hideo Kojima would write as a foundation for a story. But he would have elaborated it better, put in more layers and messages, make it deeper and more elaborated.. and probably mess it up anyway.
Watch it to pass the time, not with the intention to discuss it with others.
I wouldn't really recommend it.. I fee like they could have done more with what they created. -
The-Sarkologist7 March 2021From the trailers this film looked pretty good, but upon watching it the film turned out to be pretty good in a much different way. At first it seems to be about a film where all of the women on the planet have died while the men have developed telepathic adbilities, however once you get to the middle of the film you suddenly realise that there is actually much more to the story than meets the eye. For instance, they suggest that the reason all of the women were killed was because of an alien race on the planet, but that sort of turns out not to be the case.
The film is about this girl who survives this pod that lands on the planet and she has lost contact with the colony ship that is orbiting it. The suggestion is that if she doesn't contact them, then they will leave and go and look for another planet. Another thing about this ship is that it is a generation ship, meaning that she was born, and grew up, on the ship.
This film, and in turn the book, deals with some quite important issues, and it is quite ironic that the film was released this week with all the stuff going on in the Australian Parliament. One thing that the film touches upon, as opposed to really exploring, is the idea of colonialism, and how the colonists respond to the inhabitants of this world. In fact, it is interesting how the protagonist, Todd, is convinced that the inhabitants are actually bad, and because he knows no difference, then he doesn't question it.
In fact, the film is set initially in a small colonial town, and all he knows is what he is told. In fact, later in the film it is revealed that he thought that this town was the only town in existence on the planet, namely because nobody actually told him otherwise. Of course, there is also the fact that he has never seen a women, with the exception of Viola.
I notice that a lot of people really didn't like this film, and in a way it sort of doesn't surprise me because, well, it is pretty confronting in parts, especially when it comes to the idea of gender relations. I don't want to say too much because it will give away the plot, however, I certainly did appreciate the issues that were explored. Okay, I sort of could see the twist, and it was fairly predictable, however, the concepts that this film explores are concepts that we really can't let go away. -
"This is the most painful score I've ever had to give a movie. Yeah, I know, an 8/10 seems like it's rather high, but future me, I hope you realize how much you loved the Chaos Walking trilogy, and understand why this score seems so low to you. This should have been a 10/10. It's a fantastic concept for a movie that fails because everybody gave up. This movie took 9 years to complete, starting with a script from Charlie Kaufman back in 2012, which I'm sure was better than what we ended up with. When the film was originally completed in 2017, it was met with horrible reviews from test screenings. My theory is that this movie stayed faithful to its book counterpart, The Knife of Never Letting Go, and ended with Mayor Prentiss taking over the town of Haven. 4 years later, we get a different ending. Mayor Prentiss falls down a hole, Aaron the Preacher burns to death (?? it was very confusing), we never learn the fate of Davy, and Todd wakes up on a ship from the new settlers with Viola, seemingly continuing on with their lives. The biggest change in the whole book comes from the fact that the ship arrived early, however, there are no people seen on the ship. I absolutely hate that this movie will never get a sequel, because ALL of these changes could be resolved with a second film. But without a second movie, we are left with an ending that is far too open to interpretation and a series of totally missed character developments, especially from the relationship between Todd and Davy. Anyways, I just read the script written by Charlie Kaufman, and oh my god, if the movie was this, it would be my favorite film of all time. I can understand the change of the ending, because if it ended in the hopeless way that the book did, it would be extremely disappointing. Like any book adaptation, this one has several changes from the books, and many of them are actually pretty good additions, but there are a few glaring changes. Let me go through them one by one. Firstly, the animals don't speak. This proposes some real problems with Manchee, because his death (which surprisingly is still in the movie) is much less impactful, and is only as effective as ""awe I hate when cute puppies die"". Secondly, Todd does not have nearly as good of a relationship with the Mayor as he's initially portrayed to. His feelings are much more complicated in the books, and it's a strange interpretation to make the Mayor this father figure for Todd when that's never what he was. Thirdly, Wilf and his scene are missing from this movie. Why? I don't really know. I remember reading the Wikipedia for this movie for months and seeing that Wilf was cast, but he seems to have been cut last second. Fourthly, the Spackle are underutilized. They only appear as semi-antagonists for a very short amount of time, and they skip to the scene where he attacks (in the book also killing) one of the Spackle, but then they NEVER appear. This was a very odd choice to me. Fifthly, there was a lot of missed opportunity with Aaron's death as well, because this was a fundamental scene for Todd and his ""I am not a killer"" mentality that is core to his character.
This all being said, there is actually a lot I seriously love about this movie. Firstly, the production design and music are absolutely fantastic, and there are some absolutely wonderful scenes that take place throughout this film. The first 90 minutes or so are absolutely a 10/10 from me. I love the romantic connection that Todd and Viola build, and I think there are plenty of hilarious scenes between the two of them. I've never been so happy at a movie before, and if the movie had kept this up until the very ending, it would have been my favorite movie of all time. I love the scene of Viola and Todd talking in the rain, because it's just so beautiful. The absence of Wilf's scene with the creatures described as the most beautiful Todd could even imagine might be missing, but there are some genuinely beautiful shots that I just fell in love with. Tom Holland getting butt ass naked was hilarious, and him and Daisy Ridley just have great chemistry in this film.
Now why is this movie going to fail? Well, first of all, because of the 5 reasons I mentioned above. It's a critical failure right now, but that could be solved if it gets a second movie. Everything could be wrapped up by a sequel (or two), and it makes me wish that this was a limited series instead, with 15 episodes covering all three of the books. Anyways, what the hell happened to the marketing of this film? Tom Holland (the star), Doug Liman (the director), and Lionsgate (the production company), all just gave up on the film. There was no marketing from any of them, and poor Daisy Ridley was left with all of the marketing, so the movie probably won't make anywhere near its budget back at the box office. I want this movie to do well there, because if it does, then we could possibly have a second film, and I would bump this rating up so fast. Until then, I'm left with a hole in my heart, and I feel absolutely defeated by this film. I'm disappointed as hell, but I can't wait to finish Monsters of Men (the third and final book in the series). Chaos Walking was my most anticipated movie of all time, and with it releasing, I feel strangely empty now. I guess that's life." -
donewood21 April 2023To many solid actors, completely wasted! The breath and scope of the source material was barely scratched in this myopic uninspired little waste of time.
Some interesting use of CGI, mixed with poor special effects worthy of a weekly sitcom. Sadly one is left feeling that the best of this film was left on the cutting room floor. As the production budget never seems even close to having been realized.
The promising ground breaking ideas from the novels, never congeal. Sadly the film does not amount too anything more than an episode of a TV Western where Good Buddies run from the corrupt sheriff and his Posse. -
Argyll127 March 2021This was filmed in 2017. Audience responses were so bad they decided to reshoot major parts of it in 2019. Now they are releasing it in 2021.
This kind of schedule gives an indication it didn't go well. -
jhuebel4 April 2021All the bad reviews are interesting. I don't quite understand the dislike of this movie. It's got an interesting premise and the movie is competently made. Compared to some of the crap that's come out recently, this should be considered for an Oscar, frankly.
Daisy Ridley does a good job in this movie. And Tom Holland is a good protagonist. The movie has tension, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The movie does have a bit of a slow burn. But I think that's a good thing with what I would consider fairly hard science fiction. I would put this on the same level as a movie like Oblivion.
Anyway, ignore the haters. If you enjoy science fiction- real science fiction- then this is a solid movie.
UPDATE: As I'm watching the movie, I'm trying to figure out why people hate it so much. Is it the differences between men versus women? I recognize that's a REALLY touchy subject these days. But this almost perfectly describes our differences. Men have to fight their baser instincts. Men have to dominate their feelings. Women have more control over their thoughts. They're also more in touch with their feelings. This is a fantastic allegory, to be honest. I'm quite impressed. I also appreciate that Viola is treated as an equal to Todd. Just an all-round well crafted story. -
al_alice5 March 2021I loved the Chaos Walking trilogy and I loved this film.
There are definitely a lot of changes from the book/s but they still kept the fundamental elements that made me fall in love with Todd and Viola and the story/world. The ending was very different but considering that a sequel is off the table I was very satisfied with it.
It was emotional, funny and very unique. Just an overall enjoyable experience and I left with a smile on my face, definitely one to see on the big screen if you can.
Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley were the perfect actors to portray Todd and Viola and they brought so much genuine emotion to the characters, particularly Tom who was incredibly believable throughout. The actors who played Ben and Cillian were also a particular stand out for me as they made a big and important emotional impact with little screentime.
My only complaint is that there is still so much more in the books to explore that I would love to see but given the circumstances I am very happy with what we got. -
jbrown5102 March 2023Not the worst sci-fi I've ever watched, but close.
This is one of those movies you you want to be good, but you know won't be so you just hope for the best.
Sadly, there is just not much to the plot to really be interesting. It's really too bad because it could have. There is the setup for a lot of socio-political commentary, it just doesn't follow through. I'm not even sure if it's right to call this sci-fi. It's just dorky boy meets girl and go on a mild adventure.
Then production quality is decent, the acting is ok, all the problems are I the writing.
It almost makes me think this was originally written as a western, and so one said "add aliens!" So someone added it... the. Someone said "let's put it in the future so the aliens have a backstory". -
yusufpiskin5 April 2021I don't know why everyone is hating on this movie, but this movie was so good.
As a fan of the books I was worried the film wouldn't work. BUT despite that, it delivers one of the best experiences I've had watching a book adaptation. I loved every second of this.
Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland are ELECTRIC as Viola and Todd. The chemistry they have is unmatched.
The noise is perfection. The visuals overall in the film are amazing. The stakes are established early on and it does a great job of making you FEEL those stakes.
The boat scene was beautifully done, helped only by a phenomenal score, which is amazing from start to finish by the way.
It handles emotion amazingly well.
All of the character introductions are great too. Within 10 minutes we've met a good chunk of our cast and it doesn't feel rushed.
Chaos Walking is fantastic. As a fan of the books I couldn't be happier with how this turned out. It's moving the franchise in a different narrative direction and I'll be really sad if this doesn't come back for a sequel. -
ftonks4 March 2021One of the messiest movies I've seen in a long time. I'm a fan of the books and if you are too then don't even bother watching this dumpster fire. I saw an early screener and I could barely take this movie seriously. The villains goals are devoid of all logic, the humour is awful and dry, none of the events are really tied together, it feels like a bunch of scene strung together in a hope to come up with an actual plot. Daisy Ridley is fine, Tom Holland is fine, Mads Mikkelson as always is flawless but it would be good if they actually made his character have logical motivations or if they fleshed him out. These actors don't deserve this, Daisy was screwed over big time with the sequel trilogy and now this, I hope this isn't the end of her career. As for Tom, he needs a better agent. Cherry was a self indulgent disappointment, but not as bad as this. Do not watch this movie, it'll be a waste of time and money (if you're gonna buy or rent it) ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of the books. This movie massacres the books story and characters. Obviously Tom Holland stans or tasteless moviegoers will spam 10/10s which is almost more of a shame than the fact that they butchered the script so much.
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tsroque10 March 2021I thought I wouldn't like this movie, but it was actually pretty good! The jokes were cute, and it had enough suspense to keep me awake when I was already falling asleep before the movie started. Not a blockbuster, but DEFINITELY better than any other movie that's come out in a VERY long time!
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Badsharkmoviefan_1185 March 2021I dont even know where to start this whole film is a chaotic mess. The walking part of the title is also pretty accurate. The 2 main characters are pretty much walking thru the woods the whole movie.
The visible thoughts flying around just get annoying. This doesn't feel like $125m movie it feels more like a $25m one. It's just pointless, DONT BOTHER WASTING YOUR MONEY. -
kosmasp29 December 2021Yes pun intended - interestingly enough I was able to avoid any spoiler to this. I only knew that Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley were involved in it. But I had no idea what roles they are playing nor the story of the movie itself.
Having said that, it is not difficult to understand where this is going. And having so many good actors in it, it only helps elevate the whole thing. The "noise" part is a bit ... weird at first, but you get used to it. Better than the characters themselves I assume.
The road trip ahead of us is predictable to a certain degree. But still there is much adventure and heartache - and no dull moment. Testament to the writing, acting and the effects team (including the camera crew). Chaos travelling one might say ... intriguingly so. -
thatsgottahurt-110 March 2021The premise is ok. Mads, Tom and Demian are all good, despite only getting glimpses of the latter. The whole things comes together alright but it's just not well done enough to warrant a higher score. Daisy Ridley puts in another mannequin like performance, and she is carried like luggage by Tom for most of the film. She just doesn't have "it". Honesty, I've seen CGI characters with more range. It's ok but that's about all.
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Movi3DO5 April 2021Haha Tom Holland being a hormonal boy in this movie. In a dystopian world, young boy Todd lived in a colony with only men, and these men were plagued with the Noise, where all their internal thoughts were unfiltered and leaked out that others can hear. One day, a girl came down from space, met the colony, and stuff happened.
What I enjoyed the most was the unique premise. The boy Todd, played by Tom Holland, could not control his Noise around the girl, played by Daisy Ridley, and it gave for some funny and cringe moments.
And yeah, that's pretty much what I liked about the movie. Despite the premise, the movie went for a predictable and formulaic plot that was pretty boring for the majority of the runtime. The characters were straightforward and had little background that can make me invested in them. The cast was pretty strong, but the script didn't give them enough to shine.
Also, there were major plot points that were ignored. The ending didn't make it look like there's gonna be any sequel, so I guess I won't know much about those plots.
This movie would honestly be better as a TV series like The 100. It somehow felt rushed and empty as a 2 hour movie.
Overall, a movie with potential but was wasted with mediocre plot and characters. It's not chaotically good, but chaotically boring. No point watching this movie. 4/10.