Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt) opened the doors for many short but effective action scenes where its protagonist had a set amount of time to get from point A to point B, only for them to be stuck in innumerable (and preposterous) situations that would slow them down. That’s also the gist of Oliver Kienle’s Sixty Minutes (60 Minuten), where Mixed Martial Arts fighter Octavio Bergmann (Emilio Sakraya) has one hour to get to his daughter’s birthday party, or his ex-wife will file for sole custody.
This happened as he was about to participate in a cage fight and would rather give it all up and forfeit to be with his daughter, whom it is implied he had not seen in some time and has never shown up at her events when he promised to be there. This causes great strain in the family, with her daughter continuing to believe he will show up while her ex is at her wit’s end with Sakraya’s Octa. In Sixty Minutes, Kienle does a decent job at drawing the family drama that, while clichéd and following specific tired tropes, is still effective due to its strong performances.
Raw emotion wins: Sakarya shows up against clock & trouble
Sakarya doesn’t look like “leading man” material at first glance, but he successfully represents his anguish through the limited time slowly slipping away from him as he gets into more trouble. This type of emotional balance is hard to do, but Sakarya represents it brilliantly. You see, the fight he was supposed to participate in was rigged from the bottom up. Not only that, but it was rigged by Serbian mobsters who were going to make a lot of money by letting Octa win. He doesn’t know this, so when he leaves the stadium before the fight, he thinks it will be a forfeit, and that will be that.
But that’s not what happens, and he is quickly hunted down by a group of mobsters, who attempt to bring him back to the stadium to participate in the fight. Suffice it to say it doesn’t go well for the baddies, as Octa unleashes his MMA skills on them, giving absolutely no damn about it because family is now the most important thing in the world. And while the film moves at a rather brisk pace and is never a completely dull affair, Kienle’s action direction, unfortunately, sinks Sixty Minutes into completely forgettable territory and only exists as a film to feed Netflix’s ever-growing algorithm.
None of the fight scenes in Sixty Minutes are memorable
As precise and tactile as the fight scenes are, there isn’t one that feels memorable and/or at least somewhat engaging to the viewer. Perhaps the lack of compelling photography makes it such, but I was more appalled by its lack of rhythm. Every scene is competently shot – there’s no denying it, even if it’s not the most visually astute action film I’ve seen this year (especially after viewing Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid: Return to the Future a day ago). But Kienle doesn’t seem to understand that action isn’t just about one guy hitting another. It’s about emotion, movement, energy, and, most importantly, rhythm.
A good action scene has one of those attributes, but the best action scenes have a balletic, almost musical quality, where a director can blend intricate stuntwork and effective hits with splashes of comedy and feats of derring-do. An action scene is one of the greatest ways to craft an image and show how powerful it can be once it’s on a screen. And while Sixty Minutes certainly has the stuntwork and direction to make them at least watchable, there isn’t a single moment where it gets elevated by the energy and (lack of) rhythm on display.
One such moment sees Octa run through Skrillex, Missy Elliot, and Mr. Oizo’s RATATA, and you’d think they would use it to punctuate its high-octane action, just like they did (brilliantly, I may add) in Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels. However, the song immediately stops once he stops running. DaCosta showed exactly how to use the song and brought with it one of the most energetic action scenes of 2023, even if the film itself isn’t as great as that one scene. Kienle wants to use the song but doesn’t know how it can accompany the action. That’s a problem.
One-note villains who aren’t compelling antagonists
The other problem is its highly stereotypical and cartoonish villains, who are as one-note as they come. None of them have any distinguishing characteristics that would make them appear somewhat human (somewhat because they are criminals, after all) other than a bunch of tattoos, a jaguar jacket, and buzzcuts that show how bad they are. These tropes that, unfortunately, plague action movies aren’t a substitute for well-rounded, compelling antagonists. The ones found in Sixty Minutes are indeed antagonists but aren’t anywhere near compelling.
The film’s only quasi-saving grace is Octa’s relationship with his friend Cosina (Marie Mouroum), which gives an emotional anchor to the protagonist and the audience. Were it not for them, Sixty Minutes would, unfortunately, be a complete wash. Somewhat decent action doesn’t cut it in our contemporary landscape, where filmmakers continuously break the mold and reinvent the genre, one movie at a time. As a distraction to your life, it may get the job done. But as a good action movie, Alienoid: Return to the Future came out this past weekend. Watch that.
Sixty Minutes is now streaming on Netflix.
Have you watched the film yet? What did you think? Connect with us on X @MoviesWeTextedAbout to share your thoughts on Sixty Minutes or even on Alienoid: Return to the Future.
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