By Anthony Vidal

The starting frame of Chaos Walking, starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, initiates with a recount of its title: “The noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.” From there, the trilogy comes alive.

Chaos Walking is based on The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness — the first book in the trilogy. The movie carries several storylines and combines them together to create a narrative of action, growth, and a coming of age story. 

The scene then kicks off with Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) and his dog, Manchee, as they proceed through a forest covering most, if not all, of the landscape. As Todd arrives in town, the antagonists and main characters appear, each one with a background story briefly mentioned but not quite explored, leaving several flat characters with many loose ends throughout the film.

On the bright side, as far as the movie’s concept goes, it is a fairly captivating piece, an entertaining sci-fi, and a metaphorical wonder. The underlying effects of classism, the destructive capability of religion, and most importantly the ethical question of discretion emerges: When is truth too much, and when should it go untold? 

Even when men’s thoughts project at 4K resolution, they manage to keep secrets and maintain lies.“The Noise” of a man is just chaos walking, and it is a carrier of the recounting metaphor and of the entire movie.

Viola Eade, our second protagonist, arrives soon enough. Viola is an austrounant that descended into the planet with a group of colleagues; due to a crash of their shuttle, she was the only survivor among her crewmates. In an attempt to return back to the bigger spaceship she descended from, several complications surfaced.

In many ways this plot fits into the typical, a “boy and girl” story trope. This time, the trope does not approach is not how they both come together — rather, how both characters help each other simultaneously grow. 

Todd’s story is one of maturity. He discovers hidden secrets and learns to use “The Noise,” while still being adorable, brave, and true. Viola is a discoverer. She came to the New World to find a better life, and carries her own share of pain that fuels her motivation. Although this may sound a bit cheesy, the “hope amid dystopia” concept makes the movie worth watching. 

From the colors, scenes, angles, the quality, the beautiful, forest-bound visuals are worth mentioning. Since the movie plays out on another planet, there are some “aliens” here and there, which have a very realistic look in their movement and texture. The landscapes are a true wonder which add to the entire out of world experience. 

The movie meets expectations visually. There is a lot of dynamic action that keeps a hold on those who watch it but the storyline is simply good — not too straightforward nor too amazing. If you want to see Tom Holland undressing several times, the movie is a total recommend.