Apex

Grade: B

Apex consistently looks great, right from the opening shots. The locations are beautiful, and the camera work is impressive. It missed its calling by not having a pre-Netflix theatrical run. Visually, it’s made for the big screen. To paraphrase the oft-used tagline: see it on the biggest TV you can. Unsurprisingly, the director is Baltasar Kormákur, who did Everest.

It opens with some breathtaking scenery, as Sasha (Charlize Theron) and her partner Tommy (Eric Bana) tandem climb the Troll Wall in Norway. A vicious storm brings about a tragic turn of events. This is Bana’s only scene. We cut to 5 months later. Sasha says she’s done with climbing, but is on her way to a national park in Australia for some solo camping/kayaking.

As much as I felt like Apex’s lack of a theatrical run was a missed opportunity, it’s handy to turn on subtitles while watching at home. It cuts through the thick Australian accents (“pepper spray” is pronounced “pippah spry”), and we get every last word, including the distant “asides” and one-liners from background characters. Theron caught the eyes of a handful of men at the general store earlier in the day, and they just happen to pull up by her on her first night camping. She keeps to herself, locked in her vehicle all night, not needing to use the pippah spry that time.

The next day, in her travels among the rapids and the wild, she stumbles upon a campsite belonging to Ben (Taron Egerton). He was the least sketchy guy she met at the store the day before. He makes her food, and after a few minutes of fairly pleasant conversation, there is a jarring moment of tonal whiplash from left field, as Ben puts on a song and wields a crossbow. He informs her that she has until the end of the song to get as far away from him as possible.

From here, it settles into a pretty basic, standard cat-and-mouse hunting thriller set in the wilderness. Ben is one of those movie villains who is able to keep up with the heroine no matter what, including on foot while she travels in a kayak. The two lead actors sell what lean material they have to work with. Theron moves well and has commitment. Egerton, who was a convincing Elton John in Rocketman, is clearly having fun here. The camera has a few inventive POV shots, including one where Theron is looking through binoculars, panning through faraway landscapes – when suddenly it catches Ben, appearing to be close, and smiling while making eye contact. If there’s a part you don’t care for as much as some others, you’ll be done with it and back to real life in less than 90 minutes.

An impromptu tandem climb is involved, as is an unexpected barefoot free solo climb. You will want to power through and keep watching, so you can get past the current painstakingly tense shot and on to the next one, and the next one, until hopefully, there is relief and resolution at the end. The final 20 minutes is nerve-racking, and the 5 or so minutes contained within that had me on even more pins and needles. Apex isn’t that profound or meaningful, but is fun enough as a stress test. Palms will sweat.

Grade: B