Many Netflix originals feel like made-for-streaming content.
That’s not remotely a compliment.
Yes, they have recognizable stars and movie-level budgets. They still leave something to be desired, and that’s being kind. Even the better titles, like “Nonnas,” leave a pleasant aftertaste more than must-see energy.
And then there’s “Apex.”
The thriller stars Charlize Theron as Sasha, an adventure junkie working through a major personal loss. So she sets out to explore the Australian Outback, eager to spend time alone with her thoughts.
It might be good for her soul, and perhaps her sanity. She gets some unexpected company from randy locals eager to get to know her better.
Yech.
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Another stranger seems more promising. He’s clean cut and refined, and he offers some neighborly advice sans the creep factor.
He’s played by Taron Egerton, all buff and bald and ready to embrace the outdoors in every way possible. He’s the kind of guy you want when you’re alone in the big, bad Australian Outback, right?
Right?
A quick peek at the trailer suggests otherwise.
Director Baltasar Kormákur (“Beast”) opens the film with bravura shots of Sasha and her climbing partner defying gravity with every inch up a formidable mountain. The camera work is unsettling, making even pedestrian moves feel dangerous.
Deadly, even.
Kormákur’s camera moves are equally slick later in the film, as Sasha navigates an unforgiving river and scrambles over the challenging terrain. This film feels like a Jillian Michaels’ workout.
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Theron doesn’t have much to work with – the storyline is purposely lean and mean. She still evokes a woman at an emotional crossroads, and one whose physicality could be her only way out of certain doom.
No Girlbossery here, just a middle-aged survivor who knows how far to push her body. The Oscar winner is increasingly adept at these kinds of physical roles, from “Atomic Blonde” to this punishing affair.
Egerton has never been so lethal, and his character carries a secret that makes the cat-and-mouse storyline even more frightening.
Chomp, chomp.
“Apex” offers a few wrinkles in its third act, another sign that everyone involved acknowledged the formula at work but refused to connect the usual dots. That results in some wild jolts and a finale that proves even more satisfying than we hoped.
Now, why did this movie skip theaters again? Netflix and chilling should be “Apex’s” second act, not its first.
HiT or Miss: “Apex” doesn’t reinvent the “woman stalked in the wilderness” template. It’s just a first-class variation on it.
Big Charlize Theron fan here… I realize she’s another dippy liberal in Hollywood, but she gravitates to roles and characters that are always compelling and strong. This guy here (me) LOVES a powerful female lead in a movie, vulnerable AND tough, where Theron always shines.
Regardless of how you feel about the “white man bad” genre, this is still an excellent movie. I enjoyed it for all of the same reasons I liked The Descent (2005). The protagonist wasn’t portrayed as a superwoman; she was just a decently fit mountain climber, trying to survive.
The biggest and only true plot hole, in my opinion, was that she was going on this dangerous journey, kayaking through the Outback alone, never mind the dangerous ‘white men’, there were dozens of scenarios she put herself in before encountering the villain that could have led to fatal results if she’d made a wrong move. Doing the stuff she was doing solo is like Darwin Award level stupid to be doing alone.
The absurd magical tracking of Theron through miles and miles of wilderness and other ridiculous impossibilities significantly dented this movie for me. Her performance was another outstanding one though (see Atomic Blonde). I gave it a 2 out of 5.
White man bad. Woman superhero powers. How original.
Pass.