Movie Review: ‘Apex’ On Netflix

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Review by Adam Courtliff

With straight-to-streaming action thrillers, it is essentially a flip of a coin as to what you are going to get. On the one hand, you could get films like The Rip, generic sure, but extremely fun, whereas on the other you could get something like War Machine that is as forgettable as they come. For Netflix’s latest release Apex, headed up by Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, you would expect the former and while it does undoubtedly deliver plenty of fun, the hilariously bad CGI makes it borderline ridiculous at times.

After Sasha’s (Charlize Theron) climbing partner and lover Tommy (Eric Bana) perishes on a climbing trip, she heads on a solo canoeing journey through the Australian wilderness in an attempt to escape the tragedy and find new ways to satisfy her adrenaline-seeking nature. There she meets the outwardly charismatic Ben (Taron Egerton), but after a brief conversation his deeply disturbing intentions come to light as he reveals a habit of hunting and killing tourists, with Sasha as his latest target.

There is no hiding from it, Apex is as generic as action films like this get. The tropes are on display almost from the outset, but there is a sense via director Baltasar Kormákur and a script by Jeremy Robbins that Apex knows exactly what it is and what it is going for, and by leaning into that familiarity it actually becomes the film’s strength. In doing so, Apex creates some really enjoyable physical and psychological set pieces that will undoubtedly keep audiences gripped throughout the relatively lean runtime.

Much of the film’s success relies on Egerton cutting loose into the cartoonish villain Ben becomes. And as ever with Egerton’s performances, he is fully committed to the role as he prowls the dense forest naked and squawks like a vulture while stalking his prey. It is wildly over the top, as is his Australian accent, but it is definitely not boring, with Egerton aptly carrying the tension of the entire film on his shoulders, selling the unresolved mental issues driving his predatory nature brilliantly well.

Theron, who has become increasingly accustomed to starring in straight-to-streaming action films, delivers a strong and physical performance. Unlike some of the story, it is not just a clichéd strong female character in a tank top. Instead, she is given a role with real dimension, allowing her to display a range of emotions while also serving as the physically imposing presence when needed, without ever feeling completely invincible.

For all that is undeniably good fun in Apex, it is dragged down by the abhorrent use of CGI. That problem is evident from the opening scene, where fake humans fall off fake mountains, with it continuing throughout Sasha’s time in the forest where she crashes into jarringly fake water. The poor CGI is made even more obvious because there are scenes that use some brilliant practical effects. So just as the most anxiety-inducing moments are being built through those practical elements, Apex pulls audiences straight back out with another baffling effects shot, never quite allowing them to fully immerse themselves.

While Apex never threatens to reinvent the action thriller, it never really intends to. Instead, it aims to create just enough tension and strip away the fluff to keep audiences engrossed while delivering some genuine high-octane thrills along the way. In that regard, it is ultimately successful and makes itself well worth a watch this weekend.