So, I decided to give 2021's Chaos Walking a try this week, to see how just how much of an disaster the pandemic-dumped flop was, and... I actually really enjoyed it. It's just plain fun.

The central conceit, that the far-off planet these future colonists have landed on, broadcasts human males' thoughts to others in the form of audio/visual projections called "noise," is definitely goofy, and it took me a few minutes to get used to the often-mumbled nature of these inner remarks. (Note: I'm unfamiliar with the source books.) Once I did acclimate, however, it became an enjoyably weird feature. Would I want to see a sequel set on this world? Not really, but there's nothing wrong with a one-off, and, given the box office, it's a moot point.

Anyhow, the story is that Holland's protagonist Todd has never (in his memory, at least) seen a woman before, due to native aliens killing his town's females when he was small. Viola (Ridley) crash-lands in a scout shuttle from a ship bringing a fresh batch of colonists, and soon finds herself pursued by the dodgy mayor (Mads Mikkelsen), so she and Todd must escape into the woods to find refuge in a nearby town Todd has only just learned about.

Holland, Ridley, and Mikkelsen are predictably strong in roles that hew to their default screen personas, and Doug Liman's direction is similarly solid. The script, which underwent heavy revisions and reshoots, definitely has some bumpy spots if one looks for them (such as: why does Viola at first hide from the men? How could her shuttle crash possibly not have been heard by the nearby townsfolk?), but the story works just fine if one goes alone for the ride, as it's essentially a Western chase flick.

And, that's where the Firefly rec comes into play: it's a mostly low-fi sci-fi Western with horses and frontier types living hardscrabble lives, but without Whedon's cloying, too-cute-by-half quips. I was also reminded of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, with its plucky semi-orphan youngsters, a religious zealot on their heels, and the "noise" conceit is reminiscent of that series' dæmons. And, there's a genuinely nasty death a bit more than halfway through that I respected the movie for having the grit to pull off. Finally, there's a bit of social commentary that gives one something to chew on, in classic Trek style.

All in all, it's well worth a rental (or, in my case, a library Blu-ray loan).

Grade: B