This past Friday on March 5, the “unreleasable” film “Chaos Walking” was finally featured in theaters. Despite the unknown causes for the many delays in this film, the movie was unexpectedly charming and might just be the thing to get you out of the house on the weekends.

Based on “The Knife of Never Letting Go” written by Patrick Ness, this three-book series was set up to be the next blockbuster movie franchise for young adults. In this futuristic setting, space settlers have colonized a planet named New World. However, after The Noise infected the colonizers, the thoughts of men are put on display for all to hear and the women are being killed off by a native species.

Because of this, Todd Hewitt is the only boy living in a village of men. That is until he discovers someone who does not seem to have any Noise at all; a girl. In an attempt to protect her from the curious men of his town, the two set off to escape the village and find a place of refuge.

Featuring two well-received actors, Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, this new movie franchise seemed to be set up for success; however, everything that could go wrong did, causing reviewers and people in the industry to label it an unreleasable film before it even hit the testing audiences. 

Due to this, the producers decided to refilm the majority of the movie. However, after the actors increased popularity in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, it became increasingly difficult to schedule the actors, especially during COVID-19, causing the release date to be pushed back two years from the original in 2019.

Walking into this film, I expected it to be an absolute trainwreck and was mostly just looking forward to seeing Tom Holland on the silver screen once again. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I genuinely enjoyed the movie. 

The concept of hearing an awkward teenage boy’s unfiltered stream of consciousness upon meeting a girl for the first time is a stroke of genius, especially while trying to survive in the foreign wilderness. In a way, it reminds me of a less serious “Maze Runner” with a hint of comedy.

Despite this, I can see how some movie reviewers might still have problems with it. Some sequences of events seemed to be a bit rushed or were resolved with relative ease. Other elements were introduced to the movie for a short bit but were never explained or brought up again. 

This wouldn’t be a problem if the other two books were set up for an adaptation, but with all the problems that happened with this film, it is unlikely that they will be picked up, leaving many loose ends. Also, it is not uncommon for Lionsgate, the production company of the film, to leave a movie franchise undone when it does not do as well as planned. This happened with the “Divergent” series, which never got its final movie made.

Despite what the critics have to say, “Chaos Walking” is an entertaining film to get you out of the house. Local theaters such as AMC are open for business while taking COVID-19 precautions.