Novocaine Review

Novocaine is an action-comedy that sees an unlikely hero going on a rescue mission to save his damsel-in-distress.

Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) is an assistant bank manager in San Diego. He lives a solitary life, with his only friend being his online gaming buddy, Roscoe (Jacob Batalon). Nathan’s life improves when he finally gets a date with his crush, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), and the pair hit it off. When Sherry is taken as a hostage during a bank robbery, Nathan chases after her and is forced to become an action hero.

Novocaine had a simple premise: Nathan Caine is an ordinary man who can’t feel pain. It meant he could take a lot of punishment and do things other people couldn’t, but he could receive a fatal injury without realising it. Nathan had to get creative when fighting ex-special forces soldiers and massive criminals, although the trailer did reveal most of the best bits. Nathan’s inability to feel pain made him a bit like Kick-Ass from the Kick-Ass movies, where his superpower was a high pain tolerance, and there was a little of Crank in Novocaine since Nathan was operating on adrenaline. Novocaine didn’t have as much edgy humour as those other properties.

Novocaine was made with a modest $18 million budget. This meant that the action was limited, with Nathan fighting in restrictive locations, and he generally only fought one opponent at a time. However, as an action film, Novocaine was disappointing, especially in comparison to other low-budget action films like The Raid movies, Upgrade, and Monkey Man.

The characterisation was where Novocaine excelled. Nathan had a simple yet effective character arc. He was overly cautious because of his condition, leading him to isolate himself, yet when he hit it off with Sherry, he developed a lust for life. When Sherry was kidnapped, Nathan was willing to throw himself into danger to save his girlfriend.

Quaid and Midthunder made for a good pairing. I am most accustomed to Quaid playing villainous roles in Scream (2022) and Companion, so it was refreshing to see him as a likeable everyman. Midthunder is best known for her lead performance in Prey and recently in Opus, she played a focused and intimating Terminator-like character. As Sherry, Midthunder was able to get Nathan out of his shell and had a fun personality, like when she tricked one of Nathan’s Middle School bullies. Shelly was also a character who had baggage since she had scars on her stomach, and she was more than a damsel in distress. Quaid and Midthunder just need a big role each to make them into stars.

Novocaine was a straightforward film that was slightly disappointing as an action-comedy, but it was elevated by its stars.