Chaos Walking Review
By Lee Curtis
Daisy Ridley’s eye-rolling weariness perfectly counters Tom Holland’s nervous energy as every teenage boy’s first encounter with a girl is played out, only here with the added awkwardness of the girl seeing and hearing his every thought.
Chaos Walking is the latest addition to the long list of young adult fiction adaptations packed with potential and hoping to hit the heights of The Hunger Games. With its star power, rich source material, an original script from Charlie Kaufman, and an enormous budget, there was a time when this project was well set to be a big screen success that could light the touch paper for the next global phenomenon. But after so many rewrites, reshoots, and delays, the result is a clumsy and confused amalgamation of ideas that entertains in part but falls short of creating a cinematic world worth exploring further.
Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley are as comfortable as you’d expect in very familiar, Peter Parker/Rey-like roles, but a little unconvincing as you sense these characters are meant to be much younger – something that’s never shaken off and only emphasised by the reshoots that were clearly filmed sometime after the originals. Nevertheless, it’s their performances and chemistry that anchors the entire film. Watching their unconventional meet cute blossom into a will-they-won’t-they friendship, however cliché, makes for heartening and often hilarious viewing – particularly when Ridley’s eye-rolling weariness perfectly counters Holland’s nervous energy as every teenage boy’s first encounter with a girl is played out, only here with the added awkwardness of the girl seeing and hearing his every thought.
The film boasts a strong support cast including Cynthia Erivo, David Oyelowo, Nick Jonas, Demián Bichir, and Mads Mikkelsen who is at his menacing best. From the moment we meet his fearsome and flamboyant Mayor Prentiss, it’s clear there’s something sinister below the surface. Yet, as secrets are spilled, the dark truth comes without any true exploration and it’s sadly another case of what could’ve been for Chaos Walking as instead of a meaningful villain we’re left with a one-dimensional character who’s only bad for the sake of being bad.
On a technical level, Chaos Walking triumphs with terrific sound design and stunning visual effects that impressively bring the complex notion of “the noise” to life. Aura-like clouds of colour surrounding characters and overwhelming voice over combine to immerse the audience in this new world and its peculiar quirk. Such impressive filmmaking would be all the more impressive on the big screen, hopefully audiences in the UK and Ireland get a chance to experience it in cinemas.
As a standalone survival movie, it may entertain, and those familiar with the novels may get more out of it, but with so much potential, Chaos Walking is a disappointment. Despite such a troubled production it avoids being the disaster it could’ve been but it’s still a wasted opportunity that’s far from as good as it should be. Though it seems to only scratch the surface of the new world it’s created, it fails to strike up enough interest to demand sequel. Like the planet humanity left behind, New World isn't one worth returning to.
Chaos Walking is available for premium rental at home on all digital platforms from 2nd April, and will be available to cinemas as soon as they can open.
