Boss Level (2021).

“Shit’s about to get steel.”

Directed by Joe Carnahan

Written by Chris Borey and Eddie Borey

Starring Frank Grillo, Naomi Watts, Will Sasso, Selina Lo, and Mel Gibson

1. (The Stage)

A retired special forces operative named Roy is stuck re-living the same day over and over again, a day in which he’s repeatedly killed for reasons he doesn’t quite understand by a rogue’s gallery of assassins, each with their own style of mayhem. One of these days, Roy finds out new information and decides that it’s time to end the loop.

2. (The Good)

Wow, this movie is a lot of fun. I’m a sucker for a good ‘Groundhog’s Day’ film. In fact, Palm Springs was my favorite film of 2020. And just like that movie, Boss Level drops us right into the life of a man who’s lived the same day over and over again with a highly engaging (and funny) action scene right off the bat. Par for the course, as he learns more, we learn more, all presented with a video game aesthetic that I really enjoyed.

The cast is great. Frank Grillo plays Roy, a jaded man who’s just tired of getting up early each morning to stop his own death. He’s perfect for the role and is just in incredible shape. We don’t get much of Naomi Watts or Hollywood’s “Man of A Thousand Chances” Mel Gibson, but they’re awesome as usual. Selina Lo, who plays Guon Yin, is really great as the only assassin that really gets a decent amount of screen time.

The action is really cool and the violence is unrelenting (we get to see Roy literally lose his head many times). I had so much fun with the small flashbacks to other attempts that have led to Roy’s death in creative ways, including being run over by a truck, flying through a bus, and getting shot in the balls. It uses the formula in very interesting ways as Roy retains the information that he had the previous day. While the action is the main focus here, the film had a surprising amount of heart as well.

3. (The Bad)

I really enjoyed this film, but I have two bits of criticism. First, the film gives us all of these really cool assassins that feel like they were plucked straight out of Smokin’ Aces, but we really don’t see much of them aside from Guon Yin. Some are on screen for less than a minute, but they seemed like a really fun bunch and I’d have liked to have seen more of them.

The other criticism I have about the movie is how it ends. It’s very ambiguous, and I have a feeling that the screenwriters just didn’t know how to end it. I’m not against ambiguous endings, but I don’t think there was really a reason to leave this one up to the imagination. It’s not an Inception kind of movie. A small gripe, to be sure.

4. (The Ugly)

Imagine dying in every way imaginable and feeling it every time. Swords through the gut, rocket launchers, having your head detached from your body, being stabbed in the face, having C4 stuck to you before it explodes, and falling three stories to your doom. That’s what Roy has dealt with every day for the better part of a year.

Speaking of ugly, was that Gronk?

5. (The End)

I had a great time with Boss Level. This is one that I’ll definitely watch again and will probably add to the Blu-ray collection. It doesn’t really add anything new to the old formula of “person relives the same day over and over again”, but it is a ton of fun, has a great cast, and is infused with way more feeling that actually lands than most action movies are.