Novocaine 4K Review (Paramount)

Novocaine is a 2025 action film directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Villains, Body, Significant Other, and The Stakelander). It was produced and written by Lars Jacobson (Baby Blues, Wheel Woman, and Day of the Dead: Bloodline). It was produced by Tory Tunnell (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Trumpo, Spinning Out, Robin, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Underground, and Awake) and Joby Harold (Edge of Tomorrow, Atlas, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, My Blind Brother, and John Wick: Chapter 3). The budget was $18,000,000 and it grossed $34,536,061 worldwide at the box office!!!! Assistant bank manager Nathan Caine (played by: Jack Quaid from The Boys, Scream, Companion, Oppenheimer, The Hunger Games franchise, Rampage, Batman: The Long Halloween, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Tragedy Girls) was unfortunately born with a rare genetic disorder, where he can’t feel any pain. He has a great time with a co-worker. The next day, the girl of his dreams Sherry (played by: Amber Midthunder from Prey, Legion, Opus, Hell or High Water, and The Ice Road) is taken hostage in a vicious bank heist. He is forced to turn his inability to feel physical pain into an unexpected strength in the fight to get her back safe from these ruthless criminals lead by Simon (played by: Ray Nicholson from Smile 2, Licorice Pizza, Promising Young Woman, Borderline, and Mayans M.C.)!!!! Novocaine is a over the top action and dark comedy hybrid. It kinda low key plays out like a superhero feature which is a nice addition to it. The script mixes up several different sub-genres and it’s a total blast especially after the heist. It becomes a non stop adrenaline rush after that. The directing duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen really impressed me with Villains and this one is even better than that. Jack Quaid gives a career performance as Nathan Caine. It appears to be a normal shy guy that stays to himself but he’s much more than that. He has the unique superpower of feeling absolutely no pain whatsoever. Amber Midthunder is sorta a chameleon when it comes to all of her roles. She grabbed my attention in Prey, she’s great here as Sherry. She seems like the perfect girl but is she too good to be true? Jack and Amber have excellent chemistry together. Ray Nicholson just keeps getting better and better each time that I see him in something. You definitely see shades of his famous father in his performance. He’s brutal as Simon, he has the perfect plan until it all explodes into something else. The rest of the supporting cast includes Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man franchise), Betty Gabriel (Get Out), Matt Walsh (The Hangover), Conrad Kemp (Rust Road), Evan Hengst (Lioness), Craig Jackson (Black Sails), and Garth Collins (Bulletproof 2). It’s definitely interesting seeing Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, and Jack Nicholson’s kids going against each other in this. Novocaine has a little bit of everything for everyone in this. It’s a great of so much and the concept is refreshing. It throws in some twists and surprises with all it’s gruesome action. Novocaine doesn’t hold back on the violence. I wouldn’t mind seeing a follow up to this someday because I feel like it has the potential. It’s one of the most entertaining and darkly fun movies of the year so far. It’s currently streaming on Paramount Plus if you are curious about it, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Paramount Pictures! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 looks fantastic on home video in 4K. Novocaine has slick cinematography, sharp production design, and a variety of visually appealing locations. It has so many different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, and Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks on UHD. This one is packed with all kinds of action and violence which sounds excellent. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the mayhem is elevated, and the music has a huge boost to it. It’s loaded with various subtitles which includes English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Slovak, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. This is a top notch technical home video release. It’s set up for all over the world. It has the almost 13 minute “Prepare for Pain: Pre-Production”. They go over it’s crazy concept. They bring up some of the challenges of making it during the production. They chat about the main characters, cast, and some of the performances. It has the almost 16 minute “A World of Hurt: Production”. They highlight some of the interesting locations and set pieces. They talk about some of the more explosive and over the top scenes for Novocaine. They show appreciation for it’s visual style. They go over the stunts and the entertaining fights during it. It has the little over 9 minute “Maximum Physical Damage: Makeup Effects”. Novocaine isn’t shy about violence or gore in this. This focuses on some of the craziest stuff and it takes you behind the scenes for it. It comes with a slipcover, a digital code, and a Blu Ray copy of the home video release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!