Boss Level

Boss Level

Reegs: Jam, walk talk boss.

Dan: jammed nitty gritty.

Reegs: jam, nitty gritty.

Dan: You are certainly listening to Boss Level in the Big Bad City. Um, this was Boss Level.

Reegs: Yes. The second of our time loop

maybe

extravaganza, or first, who

Dan: knows which order this is coming in. Um, so Boss Level was a, a Mel Gibson gig, wasn't it?

Reegs: Really? You're going to say Gibson? I mean, I think it's amazing that he was getting work, but, um,

Dan: Well, he's in it. He's the big star, isn't he? I mean,

Reegs: Frank Grillo, he's the big star for

Dan: how many people have heard of Frank Grillo compared to how many people have heard of Mel Gibson?

Reegs: Yeah, uh, yeah, this is Frank Grillo and Joe Carnahan also featuring, And,

Dan: And, um, who's the, the, the guy who's the barman who was also in The

Reegs: That

Dan: That guy's

also in it.

Yeah

Reegs: it.

Dan: it's ken jong

Reegs: Ken Jong.

Dan: and he plays chef jake,

Reegs: Yeah, very important character in this. It's Frank, Frank Grillo. He was, I do like Frank Grillo. Actually. Um, he was the gray was where I first noticed him, which was also by the same director, Joe Carnahan, um, known for the gray, uh, cop shop that we reviewed on this pod.

That was great. Good. The A Team remake, and he did End of Watch. He was also in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Crossbones, and in another franchise I like, the Skyline franchise, he was beyond Skyline, so Frank Grillo I like. And, um, the whole thing about this had me amped from the start, even the title, because it's so obviously a video game inspired kind of movie.

Dan: And I did lay a, um, a little caveat right at the end of our other pod where I said I would reveal which one I like more, um, of our time loop movies. And I must say this one just with the energy it brought right from the beginning, um, and, and kept throughout the film. It was a really good film.

So let's uh, let's talk about how how it starts because um frank grillo plays roy

Reegs: It

starts with a little bit of like eight bit music like you've got in a Nintendo thing, and a character selects a select screen and then it tells you its attempt 139. And, uh, Frank Grillow wakes up and he narrates, and this, there's wall to wall narration throughout the movie.

And, uh, he wakes up. I think you see a watch on one of those fucking hideous, like.

Dan: Oh, the little kind of hat, pump handing cat things that just keep rocking. And there's a machete that hits the headboard, um, just as he, um, wakes up and ducks down, um, and doesn't get his head sliced off. Um, although

Reegs: see him sort of effortlessly fend this guy off, who's attacking him savagely, I think, with a knife as he drinks his

Dan: Yeah, huge knife. A huge

Reegs: And then suddenly he pushes the guy out into the window as, as a helicopter turns up with a fucking predator

Dan: who's in the bed with him has already run out. Yeah,

Reegs: and his Gatling gun just unleashes hell across his apartment. And, uh, Blows away the goon who was trying to kill him as he kind of sad sack hides behind this, um, thing and pillar.

And you know, he's constant narrating and I think he takes, he does actually take the, um, the gunner out, some cool little move, jumps out of a window as it explodes. It's into a passing, um, truck that's got sand in it, sort of gets himself out, dusts himself off, immediately steals this guy's car. I think he shouts, I'm a carjack, I'm being

Dan: carjacked! They both shout at the same time,

Reegs: same time. Yeah, as he explains that the guy says it every time.

Dan: you, and you quickly learn that, um, Yeah, he's done this before, um, and he's done it so well, um, he's kind of bored and he doesn't really know why he's doing

Reegs: he's not done it that well because he fucks it up because as he's telling us how good he is at doing it all, he just, he's like, hang on, did I do the bus yet?

And bang, he's fucking sideswiped. And I think it's like a recurring thing through this movie where you'll see him like be both absolutely invulnerable. And yet it's the, you'll see the main character die more than in any other movie I think I've ever

Dan: It is a computer game, where you are the character, you wake up, you've got to disarm the guy who's trying to kill you, you've got to, um, jump out of a window into a truck, steal a car, avoid a bus, get along the way,

Reegs: Yes, because there are multiple assassins. I mean, the basically his loop as he tells us is that he this happens every morning and then there are multiple assassins after him. If he can make it past the first one who's after him, he gets to a bar where he meets Ken, John and some other guys and he drinks himself into a coma until 1247 when every day he dies.

He's killed by

Dan: He's never gets. Yeah, he

Reegs: He's never got past that bit.

Dan: Um, he, he's aware of some of the characters that go into the bar, but, um, he isn't really aware of, um, the importance of them.

But

Reegs: Well, in the bar. Happens to be Michelle Yo, so he isn't aware, but I was aware that she, well, I hope she might have a slightly bigger role, but she's instantly brought in as some master swords person who just happens to be in the bar.

So that's quite cool that she's there. Maybe she'll turn up in the BLO later. Um, he, what is slightly different about this is that, um, not only do we get the time loop, we get kind of the time before, uh, the time loop, and he starts to, we see the day before, and that's when we realize there might be quite a lot going on.

Yeah,

Dan: Yeah, they basically built a, a Stargate. Hey, they've built, they've built, um, something and it's Naomi Watts, who's the head scientist and doctor of, uh, Mel Gibson's, um, who's the Colonel Clive Vector or

Reegs: Venter.

I think it's his name, so

Dan: he's, um, he's developed a, uh, team of people and a doctor who can start fucking around with time and start manipulating

Reegs: Yeah.

Dan: the, this, this big machine so they can effectively make money, rule the world, all that kind of megalomaniac kind of stuff,

Reegs: Yeah. He is gonna explain later, somehow this technology is gonna enable him to be a dictator. I didn't follow it, but it doesn't really matter, I don't

Dan: It's, it's quite clear um, you see, um, too much of Mel that he's out for himself.

He's got these big bully kind of, um, bodyguards around him.

Reegs: Saso Yeah. He was one of them.

Dan: It's

clear that the doctor is really under the thumb here and all eyes are on her. And

1. It is that

the technology is moving faster than she wants it to is is potentially unstable

Reegs: Well, the day

Dan: doesn't want to give it to this

Reegs: she, exactly. And she knows something's going on with this guy. And the day before, as we'll see, she calls Frank and tells him to come to the lab. Um, where she'll like very, uh, sketchily pluck some hair and skin tissue from him. Um, so

Dan: That's right, yeah, and she

Reegs: or other.

Uh, Cause she knows and she whispers something. They know each other. Yeah. They were married and, um, you know, he's, he's wants to rebuild a relationship with his son, which he hasn't really had played by his own son, um, in this movie, um, which adds an extra layer of poignancy because yeah, this will be, you know, a story about a deadbeat dad trying to connect with his own son playing his own

Dan: Just to spend

Reegs: Gets to spend more time with him.

Dan: And, and she, I mean, still quite young, but she seems to say, no, you've blown it with me. You've blown it with him. You are happy, um, going off on your commando type adventures around the world.

Reegs: he was like special

Dan: he's basically, I mean, at one point he says, yeah, I'm like Liam Neeson out of taken, you know, that guy made it up, but I'm the real deal.

I have those special set of skills and all the rest of it.

Reegs: and they all work together as well So that was quite nice a

Dan: Yeah, now,

Reegs: a lot of little gags like

Dan: one of these, um, on the loops, we, we see different assassins that kill, um, Roy each

time.

Reegs: know all their names, so he's got his own names for them.

One is Pam, this blonde lady. She's got Hitler's guns. Um, he can't believe it. He's so indignant. I can't believe you're killing me with Hitler's guns.

Dan: that was right. Yeah. And another guy sort of harpoons him. Yeah. And then it opens up, um, like a, I dunno, like an anchor or something. Goes through him and drags him down the street and the guy's just running down.

Yeah. Get some, get some. Let's do that. He's just a real redneck, um, dragging him off. Down the street on a, on an anchor and a bit of rope. Um, and we've got the little small guy

Reegs: restricted person, I guess, or

Dan: yeah. Um,

Reegs: he, he, he's calls him kaboom because he surreptitiously attaches grenades to him and blows him up. Um, there's also, um, the two German twins played by rampage Jackson and another MMA fighter. And, Oh, there's Roy number two, who's a guy who looks just like him.

Dan: That's right, yeah.

Reegs: And then there's the sword wielding Guan Yin and she executes him. She decapitates him time at time after time. And every time his head goes, she hears him say, I am Guan Yin and Guan Yin has done this. Yeah.

Dan: that's her line.

Reegs: Yeah. So anyway, one day in, uh, the time loop, I forget which he, he does, does he discover the tooth thing first or does he go to visit his son first?

Dan: thing first or does he go to visit his son first? He's up and down. He's given up. He's not sure.

There's one moment where, um, he feels that he gets a letter, doesn't he? Or there's there's a phone

Reegs: It's, it, first of all, right, he, because of the whole conversation with his wife that we had, he, he goes to find his son and his son is this like underground video game, um, exposition thing, um.

Dan: video games. Street Fighter, Double Dragon, um, What other games was there? Like Galaga and all these kind of games. One games pac man that we would have played in the

Reegs: and his son doesn't know that is that Roy is his father as well, right? So it probably should have pointed that out as well.

Dan: he's just a family friend he's been out the picture for so long he's never been introduced as the boy's

Reegs: So I'm one of the loops as he's gone.

killed at the end as it all sort of the time loop resets or the assassins come to get him he reveals to him that he is his father and he sees that in his eyes like

Dan: Tells him just once, doesn't he, for a second.

Um, but he gets wind of this plot, um, that Mel Gibson wants to take over the world. Well,

Reegs: well he's suspicious isn't he because he finds out that his wife dies he he calls it he calls and she's died in a lab accident

Yeah. Um, and then this is when he works out. He's got a, a tracking implant in his tooth.

Dan: Yeah, and he's got to rip out his teeth with pliers, and of course he doesn't know which pliers.

Basically, it's a, it is a video game. It's one of those video games where you have to work out the characters around you, you have to ask them questions, they're going to give you the same answer.

Reegs: Yeah, because there's a security expert guy there who can help him. It's quite comical. He's like, is this the right tooth? He's just pulling tooth after tooth

Dan: and he's saying, oh do you know anything about tracking? Do I know anything? No. I know everything about tracking devices and of course Michelle Yola. She's a an expert. Um in in sword play and um He will go, um, she's only got one day in town. Um,

Reegs: He's like, that sounds perfect.

Dan: perfect.

So he spends that that day just training and training and training. It must have taken years

Reegs: Cause he has to get inside the bit, right? Basically we'll just shoot to, you know, he has to get inside this building where Mel Gibson is and it's protected by Guan Yin, the assassin, and he cannot defeat her.

He, you know, cause he times is, it's so funny. The first attempt where he just, he drives his car over the thing, just crashes straight into a wall. Like.

Dan: And the bodyguard just comes and shoots him in the head.

Reegs: head. Yeah, yes, exactly. He fails so disastrously so many times, but yeah, it's like, it's like save scumming.

He, like, gets to the next point and he can keep going and keep going. Anyway, he eventually, like, gets all the skills that he needs to defeat Guan Yin as well.

Dan: Which is, which is amazing. And nobody knows that he is in this loop because for them, it's all the first day. They, they don't understand that the machine is working. In fact, the, the machine that, uh, the doctor had, uh, designed is, is not working for them, but

Reegs: but it gets turned on. That's the event. It's the thing that turns it on is the thing that I think when it gets turned on at night is when it resets the loop for everyone, but

Dan: but him.

Reegs: him. Yeah. so yeah, he does end up killing, It's like more trial and error, isn't it?

Dan: the, the whole

Reegs: the whole

Dan: He sometimes you'll watch the entire loop and he will.

almost to the end to the Guan Ying bit or whatever, and he will die and he'll have to go back and they'll fast forward for all those little bits where he's, he kills the assassin in the morning, he'll run through do this.

I mean, the girl in the bed, he realizes the dental expert that's put the

Reegs: um,

Dan: tooth implant in him. Um, and, and We see various other moments of his day, um, which you didn't see at the beginning. He's in a bar and he's talking to somebody and, um, and that's where he picks up the girl. Um,

Reegs: Eventually, right, he gets the point where he can get in and he can kill Venter, torture him for information.

Venter reveals his big scheme for all this stuff. Um, but then he also reveals that assassins are being sent every day to kill his son. Um, so it becomes like this really despondent thing, like even if he could Kill and stuff. You know, they don't know what they're doing with the technology. Anyway, his wife is dead.

His son is getting killed every day becomes really despondent. We go through a scene where he just lets himself get killed by that first guy every day. Um, uh, until at some point he decides to use the time to get to know his son to not be Be a deadbeat dad. And so he goes every day and gets good at gaming and spends time with his son and all that stuff.

And that's when he lets slip a crucial piece of, in that quite tender moments, really lets cl uh, slip a crucial piece of plot information, which is actually in the morning his wife is still

Dan: Yeah, his

mum called him and he goes what she called you this morning and he's going yeah yeah she called me and said look if i'm ever in trouble i should call you so it's a bit weird to see you you

He then

pieces it together that when he wakes up, if he goes direct,

Reegs: he's got 14 minutes, I think,

Dan: he's got 14 minutes.

Of course, there's, um, That helicopter that is, uh, shooting at him every single morning, um, and it's right up close to the window, or certainly close enough for him to try a leap across the, the sky onto the, the pedals of the helicopter, climb up, kill the, the,

The

guy with the gun, make the pilot fly.

Through town straight away to to where he's got to be and he eventually gets through just as the bodyguard is killing His ex wife and he manages to to shoot him and put the other guy down

Reegs: a sword through the big bully type, um, guy.

bodyguards head and it's a great bit of comedy acting where he's like, can anybody smell muffins? He's like walking around, his legs are gone.

Dan: And he dies

Reegs: he dies quite

horribly and, um, they have a big sort of emotional moment where they reconnect and he's like, you know, he knows it's too late for their relationship

Dan: many times did I tell you?

He goes, first time

Reegs: But he, you know, he wants to be better for their son and end this stuff and she tells him that basically, I don't know.

Sciencey, sciencey, sciencey, something, something, something. If you go and stand in the machine, because I put your hair in there earlier or

Dan: Yeah,

Reegs: it will reset

one.

Dan: that's got to be sacrificed for the rest of the world to, to

Reegs: Well, maybe sacrificed, maybe not. Who knows? Three steps into the machine. And I think that is the end of the movie.

Unless you watched the other U. S. release, which has him wake up one more time to be attacked. Um, But he has to do the day, the implication is one more time, perfectly, because the guy, uh, chops at his head and he looks at the camera and says piece of cake, and then it cuts. Which I think might have been a slightly better ending, um, than the one we got.

Dan: I dunno. Yeah, it, it left it at the end and I thought, oh, maybe there's gonna be more to

Reegs: level, another boss level.

Dan: boss level too. But this was really well paced. Um, Frank Willow was absolutely excellent in it. He's some unit, isn't he?

Reegs: he?

Yeah, he's like cartoonishly massive, but he's also got a quite a sort of soulful look and

Dan: yeah,

Reegs: look in his eyes, so he can carry off all the stuff with the emotional stuff with his son.

Um, but yeah, he's huge. Every time he takes his shirt off, I was getting

a

Dan: huge. Every time takes his shirt off, I was getting a choppy.

a charming way of, of looking at the loop.

This was violence and, um, and lots of death, um, coming at you quick. There was lots of action. Um,

Reegs: I think it, I think it like plays like, because it's like absurdly macho at times and yet he fails horribly and stupidly like over and over as well as being like cartoonishly invulnerable as well. So it's like quite a good deconstruction of like different types of action hero.

I quite like that about it.

Dan: Yeah, and, and it does, as you say, it builds up, sometimes he'll lose the fight, he'll come back, he'll come back and, and he'll lose again, he'll lose again, and eventually he, he gets there. Um,

Reegs: but it's much more a video game movie than a time loop movie, I would say. Especially as structurally it deviates from the other time loop movies by showing you

Dan: games are kind of like that, aren't they? It's game over, start again, game over, start again, and, and that's what this film is.

Um, and once it was game over,

I'd

start this one again.

Reegs: A strong recommend.