Chaos Walking.. and stumbling

Another new film to enter the sci-fi, dystopian, survival genre is CHAOS WALKING. It is based on the fiction trilogy written by Patrick Ness, and covers book one in the series The Knife of Never Letting Go. The concept of this story is unique and thoughtful, but sadly getting it to relate on screen only increased the chaos.

I can understand why there is such a prominent cast as I am sure the script read beautifully. Set in a world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise is a wild concept. The idea that what people actually think is right there for you to hear and judge seems liberating. No more secrets. No more fake. The cons are the same as the pros though. People have to work on controlling what they think in order to block fear and weakness.

Tom Holland plays Todd, a young man who has very few memories of his mother and has only known the world of Noise and men. Then a spaceship lands in his town – stay with me here – bringing Viola (Daisy Ridley), the only female Todd has ever seen. Viola was on a mission from Earth when she lands on this planet. She survives but only to discover that she is instantly hunted by the townspeople who fear her presence. With more questions than answers Todd must try and save her by delivering her to another town where she will be safe.

Along with Holland and Ridley the film also stars David Oyelowo, Nick Jonas, Cynthia Erivo; and Mads Mikkelsen as the towns ruthless Mayor. This group of prominent actors, the script, as well as the aesthetics, and direction should have made this film on par with the Hunger Games and Divergent series. The issue that befell this endeavor is how to convey thoughts onto the screen. They use this sort of blue aura that conveys thoughts and as a viewer we hear them along with the dialogue. But too much overlapping and you lose focus, not enough and it comes across as campy. Human thoughts are chaotic, staccato filled narratives. It is impossible to translate that effectively.

Also, there is a lot that doesn’t get explained in the film early on. There is so much focus explaining how the NOISE works and how they control it that 2/3 of the film has gone by before anything starts to take shape. At first it seems silly as we see Todd walking through the woods and hearing his random thoughts. It feels forced and contrived and to be honest not really needed. It would have been better if the audience didn’t hear the thoughts but understood that the characters could. Almost like telepathy. The simple story about a world were only men survived and then the adventure of Todd and Viola would have been a cool story all on its own.

As Todd starts to find answers we do as well and the story gets some depth. Why are they there? What happened to the women? Why are other towns off limits? What is Viola’s mission? All of this is intriguing but lost in the chaos of noise. Most of the above questions do get answered, somewhat, and the film could end and be finished. I am not sure if they will finish the trilogy on screen. Holland and Ridley are busy and to get them to commit to two more films might have been over confident. I am interested to read the books though. The concept was one that intrigued me even if it didn’t play well on screen.

CHAOS WALKING is rated PG-13 for violence and language. It release in theaters and IMAX March 5th.

SYNOPSIS: In the not too distant future, Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) discovers Viola (Daisy Ridley), a mysterious girl who crash lands on his planet, where all the women have disappeared and the men are afflicted by “the Noise” – a force that puts all their thoughts on display. In this dangerous landscape, Viola’s life is threatened – and as Todd vows to protect her, he will have to discover his own inner power and unlock the planet’s dark secrets.