Charlize Theron plays a grieving widow trekking through the Australian outback, who winds up prey for Taron Egerton's demented hunter in Baltasar Kormákur's effective, if daft, Ozploitation thriller.
It is, by and large, very silly and requires you to just go with the flow. Pausing at any minute to consider the logic of it all will undoubtedly ruin the experience. Luckily, Kormákur is such a talented director, and both Theron and Egerton are so committed to the bit that for the most part, I was too busy having fun to care about the inconsistencies.
Right from the beginning, it's clear that Kormákur is the right match for the material. Throughout his career, he's had the uncanny ability to capture nature in all its majesty and terror. The opening sequence, where Theron ascends a snowy mountain with her partner, is so intense and well-built that I almost forgot there's an entire movie still ahead. If you saw Kormákur's terrific Everest a decade back, you'll feel right at home.
From there, the pace rarely lets up as Theron meets Egerton's immediately unnerving hunter, who prides himself on the crappy beef jerky he sells to local gas stations. It's instantly clear he's up to no good, and Egerton's delightfully evil performance is just on the right side of hammy to ensure it doesn't fall into pantomime.
Apex nails that difficult balancing act that most of these kinds of films fail at: It's scary, intense, and full of danger, but there's something really fun about it, too. Unlike other similarly themed Ozploitation hits, Apex is never mean-spirited. It puts Theron through the wringer, and it goes to some very dark places, but there's never a sense that it's for some weird, misogynist kicks.
In fact, not since Benicio del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones squared off in The Hunted has there been such an oddly fascinating chemistry between leads. Theron and Egerton are both magnetic actors in very different ways, and they play off their contrasting styles well. Kormákur gives both the villain and hero time to shine, so that even when we never root for Egerton, there's a constant understanding of what each is capable of.
Kormákur stages the action in long, unbroken sequences that are easy to understand and always thrilling. And while it does require some suspension of disbelief – Egerton hones in on his prey like a Terminator, while Theron occasionally appears indestructible – Apex is so engaging it rarely asks for more than it gives. It helps that Theron is entirely believable in the lead, once again delivering a compelling performance that grounds the film even in its wildest moments.
Apex's swings don't always connect, nor are its answers entirely satisfactory. There's an odd detour midway that almost veers into fantasy, and while I admire its audacity, I'm not entirely sure it's all that necessary. The third act is easy to see coming, and if it weren't for Kormákur's eye for intensity, it probably wouldn't work at all. If Egerton wasn't so much fun as the villain, I figure most would have checked out well before the climactic battle of wits.
But all complaints go out the window the moment Theron and Egerton butt heads in some wonderfully devised action set pieces once again. They're movie stars at a time when those are in short supply. Sometimes all you need for a film to work is a guy, a girl, and a murder plot.
At just under 90 minutes in length, Apex knows exactly what it wants to do and accomplishes almost all of it without a fuss. This is sure-handed, quality craftsmanship that is brutally efficient, even if it's not particularly original or inventive. It's a supremely silly, but ultimately pleasurable way to spend a Friday night, and that's not nothing.
