by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
So there’s this gorge…. it’s somewhere in the northern hemisphere. We’re given minimal information on what’s going on inside. There are two guard towers on opposite sides of this mysterious abyss. But two highly trained snipers are on the job, protecting the world from whatever chicanery is down there. So send some positive vibes to Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), a trained Lithuanian assassin, and Levi (Miles Teller), an ex-Marine sharpshooter. They’re gonna need that energy.
If you Google The Gorge, or pull it up on your Apple device, the first thing you’ll see is images of Taylor-Joy and Teller. How you feel about this movie is largely going to be based on the stars’ performances and chemistry. There is barely anyone else in this movie to pit them against.
And I was very happy with what we got. The chemistry is well-directed by Scott Derrickson, and acted by the two leads. Teller’s standoffish and PTSD-ridden Levi meshes well with Taylor-Joy’s eccentric Drasa. They really are fun puzzle pieces that fit very well together. Pacing well against the two-hour runtime of the movie, we see them slowly open up to each other. Through this, they become a tough team for the horrors in the gorge. My personal taste would have preferred that we get more of the two bonding and just opening up together. Those are the moments the star power of Taylor-Joy and Teller shines. Anyone can hold a gun menacingly, but to give off a vibrant charm is something else.
Action/adventure-wise, this movie is copy-paste happy. Mysterious and dangerous uncharted territory that our protagonists have been told to avoid. It has been done a million times. Now that’s just a setup, and there are plenty of tired setups that are used yearly. That in and of itself is not a sin. But the payoff is what is sinful. Digging deeper would get into spoiler territory, and I would prefer our kind readers see this themselves. Let us just say that there are various plot points one could say were plagiarized/inspired by Lord of the Rings, The Last of Us, Annihilation, and The Bourne Identity. Yes, yes, there is nothing new under the sun. But this critic would have preferred this film not ape its script from superior works.
I’ll give the action sequences this: They look good. Even watching on a laptop, you can tell how much that Apple money can buy. The CGI and practical effects don’t look fake. Combat is distinct and clear. Camera movements follow our heroes through their mission, and we are never disoriented.
Said Apple money also makes for a very realistic and quality setting for the story. The world is immersive and gray in a scary way. Sometimes these big movies with big worlds feel cookie cutter in how their worlds look. But this world feels natural and haunting. It is gray, but that is reflective of the shroud and clouds of mystery that hangs over our heroes. So next time you buy your iPhone, remember the money is going towards the fifth lead of the Divergent franchise and one of the “New Mutants” getting a nice-looking movie. Do with that knowledge what you will.
The bummer of this being a straight-to-streaming release is how quickly it will be forgotten. By no means is it on par with an action original like John Wick, but if The Gorge had a bigger marketing push, it could have made a pretty penny in the box office. Maybe it gets a sequel or a spinoff show. Who’s to say? But the bummer of the modern age is not seeing something you like on a big screen. At least I had the company of Taylor-Joy and Teller to carry this movie.
Rating: Liked It
The Gorge is currently streaming on Apple TV+
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