Xchange 7 out of 10: Any movie that starts out with the premise that society has purposely cloned hundreds of Steven Baldwins embarks with one foot in the grave. And the plot of people's consciousness traveling to different host bodies and "the Corporation" losing some poor schlubs original body is right out of Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. (For those who are not Canadians, PBS watchers or MST3000 fans, Overdrawn is one of the worst pieces of science fiction ever created and defiantly not Raul Julia's finest hour.)
Yet the movie pulls itself out of this one two punch with a smarter than it had to be script (at least until the tired and predictable third act) and some rather enthusiastic sex scenes (more on that in a minute).
First the script. Now most science fiction films when talking a big new technology like consciousness transfer will create some crazy take over the world, the world will end, destroy civilization as we know it scheme. Xchange takes a different much more realistic and creative track. People hop into other bodies to avoid exercise, avoid long lines at the airport and experiment sexually. In other words what people in real life use mind blowing technology for. (The internet is a mind-blowing piece of technology and people use it not to gain control of the universe or gather great amounts of knowledge they use it to post useless opinions on movies, download porn and shop for collector plates on E-bay.) Now the third act does fall apart with talking killers and vats of acid not to mention car chases that wouldn't be out of place in an A-team episode but by this point the movies charm has sunk in.
As for the sex scenes unlike many films with plastic woman and men who attempt to copulate with the woman's navel while still wearing their underwear, Xchange features sweaty, athletic and realistic sex. This along with some decent violence and good non-Baldwin acting helps elevate Xchange into a top tier of B-movies.
Yet the movie pulls itself out of this one two punch with a smarter than it had to be script (at least until the tired and predictable third act) and some rather enthusiastic sex scenes (more on that in a minute).
First the script. Now most science fiction films when talking a big new technology like consciousness transfer will create some crazy take over the world, the world will end, destroy civilization as we know it scheme. Xchange takes a different much more realistic and creative track. People hop into other bodies to avoid exercise, avoid long lines at the airport and experiment sexually. In other words what people in real life use mind blowing technology for. (The internet is a mind-blowing piece of technology and people use it not to gain control of the universe or gather great amounts of knowledge they use it to post useless opinions on movies, download porn and shop for collector plates on E-bay.) Now the third act does fall apart with talking killers and vats of acid not to mention car chases that wouldn't be out of place in an A-team episode but by this point the movies charm has sunk in.
As for the sex scenes unlike many films with plastic woman and men who attempt to copulate with the woman's navel while still wearing their underwear, Xchange features sweaty, athletic and realistic sex. This along with some decent violence and good non-Baldwin acting helps elevate Xchange into a top tier of B-movies.