I REALLY APPRECIATED THIS FILM because I'm currently reading Jurassic Park and I really just love sci-fi survival movies. Jurassic Park also happens to be one of my favorite films ever.
What works in the movie "65" (for me) are some of the things people didn't like.
For example, the "underdevelopment" of both plots (the family storyline along with the protect-the-young-girl mission). In a frightening situation like this, your brain is going to be detached and just thinking of survival. So the dual-plot presentation, to me, mimicked & spoke true to how the the main characters were having to handle their realities. They had to kind of put everything that was relevant to them on the back burner to have room to survive where they were. Only in the down moments were they able to think about what mattered to them and that is literally how the directors presented those thoughts.
What also boosted & complimented this were the epic graphics of Earth's Jurassic era. The scenery really gave me this dystopic, hopeless and overwhelmed feeling - which is what Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt, the main characters, were to experience (so I feel they did that well).
Speaking of Ariana Greenblatt, she did amazingly well and was fun to watch on the screen, her character was rich enough and her acting was great. Good job girlie, I hope your career blossoms and you have a good agent looking after you...
Adam Driver already has a vibrant background from being in the more recent Star Wars movies, and I just think he's a brilliant actor and loved seeing him take the lead role.
Let's see what else...
To give you some background story, I am a 41 year-young female who is a Star Wars/Star Trek/sci-fi lover who played & worked with video games for years & years, and so it may make more sense as to why I am more forgiving than others of how this film turned out despite the big budget.
Thank you Hollywood for taking a chance and making this cool dystopian movie and I hope there are more to come.
As a caveat, maybe Hollywood can make epic & entertaining movies that are also a sort of mental "training ground" for people to prepare themselves for possible future unfortunate events that could, in theory, take place. 65 is a bit of a stretch (for our civilization in 2023), but why not?
This movie didn't appeal to the masses, but maybe one day.