Frank Grillo's Groundhog Day-Style Sci-Fi Action Movie Is A Must-Watch On Hulu

Some of the best time loop movies present their characters with the conundrum of having to relive the same day over and over. The most notable example is "Groundhog Day," which sees Bill Murray's Phil Connors repeat the same day until he evolves as a person and falls in love. Now, imagine if Phil was a soldier who woke up every day and got killed, and you have a rough idea of what to expect from Joe Carnahan's "Boss Level" — currently streaming on Hulu.

In this one, Frank Grillo is Roy Pulver, a retired special forces agent who keeps repeating the day he got murdered. He sets out to get to the bottom of the mystery — which involves a secret government program headed up by Colonel Clive Ventor (Mel Gibson) — while trying to save his estranged wife (Naomi Watts). Roy must also evade assassins at every turn, so viewers can look forward to sword battles, gun fights, and more.

Critics have yet to hail "Boss Level" as one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. However, it still received generally positive reviews across the board, as evidenced by its 73% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. With that in mind, let's find out what reviewers had to say about the actioner.

Comparisons to "Groundhog Day" and other action movies are inevitable when it comes to "Boss Level." However, Joe Carnahan knows how to stage exciting action set-pieces, and Frank Grillo knows how to kick butt — which explains why he was cast as Crossbones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, viewers seeking a fast-paced action flick will have a blast with "Boss Level."

"Boss Level compensates for its overstuffed scenario and relentless derivativeness — actually, it makes you stop caring about its relentless derivativeness — with concentrated fast pacing and breakneck action," Glenn Kenny wrote for Roger Ebert.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety echoed a similar sentiment, but noted that "Boss Level" has enough original ideas to stand out as its own thing. "Putting 'Groundhog Day' on action steroids, the film has a patina of cleverness that's pleasing enough, but you've seen it before. And you'll see it again."

"Boss Level" doesn't rewrite the formula of action or time loop movies. However, it plucks ideas from enough sources to be interesting, and combines them with enough style to be exciting. Hulu subscribers who are in the mood for some cinematic violence and mayhem won't be disappointed.