Evelyn Rose is a sophomore and a reporter for the Fishers Tiger Times. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
Since 2014’s ‘John Wick,’ I feel there has been a problem with with action movies following the same type of stunt choreography in film. Where the main character gets hurt but then fend off the antagonist when they grab random objects around them, turning them into deadly weapons. “Novocaine” follows this same type of combat, but flips it on its head because of the film’s original concept: The main character cannot feel pain.
“Novocaine” follows Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) who has a severe disorder causing him to be unable to feel pain. For the first 10 minutes of the runtime Caine is lonely, working at the bank until his coworker, Sherry (Amber Midthunder) takes him on a date. The day after this date, the bank gets robbed and one of the robbers takes Sherry hostage.
This causes Caine to pursue the robbers on a quest to save his girlfriend, killing each robber in brutal ways.
This film seems perfectly average yet uniquely creative to give any filmgoer a fun time. The kills in this film make this one of the best action films in the last five years. The film deliberately tries to get the audience to feel pain. This is shown the most when Caine must put his hand into a deep fryer while it is bubbling to retrieve a gun.
When Nathan Caine shoots the bad guy, the film deviates from other films’ plots even more because Caine is an amateur who gets sick immediately after shooting him.
The film’s sound designer must be praised for enhancing every single scene to its fullest potential. In the scene when the hand contacts bubbling grease, it feels like the speakers were cranked to the max making me the most uncomfortable I’ve felt since watching “Saw X.”
The budget for this film was only $6 million. It had great special effects even with its relatively small budget though this may have been cue to using more practical effects rather than CGI. Which I give even more props to the filmmakers because this film was a bold and risky attempt at making an action film with an original idea.
The film makers also never lose sight of the original idea. Films that forget what their own schtick was end up cheating the audience. “Novocaine” refuses to cheat the audience with any question they might have. For example, Caine cannot eat solid foods, fearing he might bite his own tongue because of his inability to feel pain. He can also heal himself in ridiculous ways, such as when he gets stabbed and then has to put super glue directly on the wound, feeling no pain.
“Novocaine” does not just show disgusting kills. It has a great romance that feels much more natural than a film like “The Crow” (2024). Jack Quaid has great chemistry with Amber Midthunder especially in the scene where a high school bully shows back up in Caines’s life and Sherry ends up convincing the high school bully to take a shot of ghost pepper. The romance felt incredibly genuine in this scene which is a lot better than how most action film romances end up feeling.
Overall “Novocaine” is a romantic comedy action film that delivers on all three fronts and for that reason, I give it a perfect score. “Novocaine” releases in theaters March 14.
