A grieving woman testing her limits in the Australian wilderness is suddenly ensnared in a deadly game with a ruthless predator.
Chuck says:
Baltasar Komakur’s “Apex” is a double-edged sword where Australian tourism is concerned. On the one hand, the director captures the wild, rural areas of the country in all its glory, the danger, majesty and beauty of all the continent contains, splashed across the screen in either deep golden or lush green hues. Then there’s the notion that serial killers and other malcontents are present throughout the area, preying on any innocent tourists that might cross their path.
The film’s story has a similar dichotomy, featuring a heroine who’s hard to connect with and a shift in tone that’s a bit too jarring, all the while contained within a more than serviceable action movie that begs to be shown on the big screen. Charlize Theron is Sasha, an adrenaline junkie haunted by a mountain climbing incident that went horribly wrong. Trying to get her feet back under herself, she heads down under to sample all Australia has to offer in the way of outdoor adventure. She happens to meet Ben (Taron Egerton), a seemingly gallant guy who ends up stalking her through down one ricer through another gorge, into the forest and just about anywhere our heroine shows up.
His ability to dog our heroine’s footsteps so easily is one of the flaws in Jeremy Robbins’s script, as is the third act climax which is just too ridiculous to accept. Yet, the stunt work throughout is spectacular and, as I said, Komakur leads with his main asset, his use of the natural setting creating an immersive and at times, thrilling experience. In the end, “Apex” proves a mixed bag, a film I was leaning towards liking, that is until it wandered in the realm of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and suddenly, it wasn’t the movie I thought it was or wanted it to be.
2 1/2 Stars
