Boss Level is kind of a fascinating movie. It’s another time loop film – this time an action flick where the guy has to survive a horde of assassins gunning for him (and figure out why they are tryin to kill him). It stars Frank Grillo, a B tier action star (who sometimes appears in A list movies) who, as far as I know, has never been asked to do much dramatic acting. He usually plays heavies or anti-heroes. But then I’m watching it and out of the blue it also stars Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh. And then he’s called on to do some actual acting in the middle of this big dumb action comedy… and it works.

I won’t say it’s the best time loop or big noisy action flick around… but it’s certainly trying. Its sense of humor (often pretty dark and bloody) about surviving falls out of apartment buildings, car chases, and gun fights is cute, especially when he’s on the 120th attempt at the loop. And the action and visual FX and explosions are solid. It’s a pretty good action flick and Frank Grillo is good in it.

As with most time loop flicks, our hero has to figure out why he’s in the loop and what he needs to do to break out of it. And part of his solution is surprisingly moving and wholesome. And, yes, called on Grillo to do some acting beyond being a snarling bad guy or grim anti-hero. I can fully see why he’d take the gig and good on him for it.

I had a decent amount of fun with this flick. I think it’s worth checking out, especially for fans of big action flicks and science fiction / time loop flicks. It doesn’t necessarily break the mold in that sub-genre but does add slam bang action to the formula. I liked it.

Score: 82