Ridley Scott films are always worth getting excited about. His recent run has been a bit mixed (House of Gucci) but he shows with stuff like Gladiator II that he can still make exciting films and even though his best film recently was All the Money in the World which was nine years ago, there was still a certain amount of hope that this would a good film starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley. Set in the near future where a virus has wiped out most of humanity, Hig (Elordi) flies a plane with his dog Jasper and returns to Bangley (Josh Brolin).
I will be honest and admit that I have never understood the appeal of Elordi. He is a good actor and was really good in Frankenstein but he is one of those actors that Hollywood seems to be pushing as the next big movie star. I must admit that I can seen why because he was quite good as Hig. The bond he has with his dog was lovely and it was quite sad when the dog died especially given the connection his previous life. Margaret Qualley gives a nice performance as Cima. She doesn't get off to the best start but as the film progresses she becomes an important part of the story. It's not a performance on the level of The Substance but it's still a good showing for Qualley. Josh Brolin is good (as always) as Bangley who seems to enjoy the new world a bit too much. He is sidelined sadly when Hig goes off and has a brief moment where he fights off people and somehow survives when things start to blow up.
Guy Pearce is ok as Pops. His moody attitude towards Hig is entertaining and the inevitable cooling means that they get on by the end. Sadly Pops becomes a background character once they return and Bangley is back in the story. He has maybe two brief appearances but that is it.
The group that attacks Bangley are given a brief bit of backstory but nothing more than that and after the battle they don't appear again. There is a mention about Grand Central which takes way too long to get there and once they do then it leads to the most interesting part of the film where Allison Janney's Darlene who is a good villain but is only in the film for about five minutes before Hig, Pops and Cima make their escape. It's a shame because Janney is quite good as Darlene and if this were a TV season then this would be a very good main villain.
The main issue I have with this film is that there are way too many post apocalyptic films and TV shows that do this type of world better. The 28 Years films are better than this and there are seasons of The Walking Dead that are done better. This film has two hours and things feel rushed and there is no time given to get invested in things. If the film had been structured different or been given an extra 20 minutes then I'm sure things would have worked out a bit better. It's not a terrible Ridley Scott film but it is definitely one of his more disappointing offerings.
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