Reviews

OK so Gyllenhal is good in this movie. Lets get that out of the way first. Now onto the roast.

What a terrible steaming pile of dung this movie is. It simply makes NO sense. Lets examine the two possibilities for the "world" that they are operating in.

In the first, they have developed code that allows them to put a person's consciousness into the body of someone else in a mock-up of the world as it was at that time an infinite number of times. Fine - Where did this mock-up come from? They implied that it was from the the guy who Gyllenhal is inhabiting, but the train exploded... his brain would be peanut butter (along with everyone else on that train). OK so lets say magically his head got tossed away from the train and they retrieved it, how exactly does this guy manage to have complete knowledge of everything that exists in that world? He didn't go into the bathroom and open the ceiling and find the bomb there, so there would be nothing there in his version of the world. He either got off the train or stayed on it, so there's no way he could know what happened after the point that the train moved on. He might continue to believe that the Middle- Eastern stereotype guy was the terrorist - there's no way he could have any knowledge of what happened after those two events diverged. So of course, the virtual world example is ridiculous and makes no sense.

Alright so what about the idea that it is an alternate reality? This is even harder to believe. If its an alternate reality then of course there is no way to believe that the events would have unfolded in the same way as in the reality the movie takes place in. Every alternate would be different and none would reliably provide information about the reality of the movie. The guy that Gyllenhal "inhabits" maybe doesn't even exist in the alternate reality. Maybe he died of cancer. Maybe he works in Japan. Maybe he called in sick today. Who knows???

If its a virtual construct then all the information is already there, just parse the data. If its an alternate reality then by the definition of the word ALTERNATE you can't rely on it being even marginally similar to your reality. And if its time travel you could literally send him back an infinite number of times in succession. Just by the odds you would eventually get the data you needed by reading his brain (which is silly by itself, don't get me started...)

And then there is the annoying obfuscation that moves the plot along but is entirely unnecessary for the movie. There's no need to hide facts from Gyllenhal's character -- Just tell him what he's doing! There's no need to get his permission -- Just send him back! Why the writers play these stupid games with their audience I haven't a clue.

Stop being stupid movie-going zombies! Be critical! Ask questions!

If you keep consuming this kind of crap and saying its a filet mignon, the studios will continue to feed you CRAP.

This. Movie. Was. Terrible.

It was quite literally Forrest Gump with a change of disabilities.

In it, we follow Forre.. er.. I mean Benjamin as he experiences his life in reverse. It is, of course, full of fantastical occurrences that most compilations of 20 men wouldn't meet in their lifetimes, but of course, Forrest (oops I did it again, I mean Benjamin!) just manages to fall ass-backwards into every piece of luck he possibly can. Father is a millionaire -- Here take all this free money!

Its full of stereotypes -- The cruel white businessman who doesn't accept his son because of his appearance, the elegant and beautiful mother dying during childbirth, the loving black mammy taking in the unwanted child, the hard-working and stressed out surrogate father asking "Why are we taking care of someone else's child?!?", the neglected, spoiled businesswoman jumping in bed with Benjamin as much to punish her husband as because of her desire to be with Benjamin, and the oft-returning love interest that's made a family for herself but never stopped loving! Oh! So original! If you can't piece this film together yourself from about 3 or 4 other better films then.. well.. you just haven't seen enough movies in your life.

Watch a couple of good films and don't waste your time on this one.

So. In the interest of full disclosure I should probably point out that my wife is Chinese, had heard good things about this movie, and half- drug me to the theater to see it. I wasn't opposed to seeing it, I just didn't have any strong feelings about it one way or the other. Boy oh boy, did that change after I stumbled from the theater, noticeably dumber. How an exceptional film maker like Lee could make a movie like this with so much potential and fail on so many levels I have no idea, but this movie is a meteoric rocket crashing to earth with a dull, lifeless thud.

Of course, my wife (again, being Chinese), loved the movie. Well, maybe she didn't love it, but she liked it. Its probably not on her top 10 list or anything, but she might like to watch it again.

Long review short, if you're a Chinese woman, you might like this film. If you're a discerning movie goer that is critical of what you see and doesn't take anything at face value, you very well might hate this film.

So how does this movie fail?

The problems with the movie are almost unilaterally a reflection on the motivation of its characters. They continually choose to do things and act in ways that are utterly and ridiculously opposite to how a real person might really act in that situation. The group refuses to act out their plan unless their prey makes 3 steps forward. Mak runs screaming down a street like a child when the group succeeds in the murder of a target. Mak falls in love with Yee while he treats her like trash, property and an object. Mak progresses from just standard female stupidity into full-blown sexist stereotype when she sells out not only herself, but the entire group, for the gift of... wait for it... a diamond ring! Was this movie bought and paid for by Zales?? "Oh, here's a big diamond, THIS proves my love for you (not when I was smacking you around a while back...)"

Its weird, but the movie works better as a cautionary tale for women and their notorious materialism -- "Watch out ladies, if you think a diamond is the same thing as love, you might find yourself getting shot in the back of the head in a ditch" -- than it does as a drama or suspenseful film. Of course, there's no need to sit through almost three hours of beautiful garbage to get that point across. Even the heavily publicized love-making scenes were difficult to enjoy. Wei has a beautiful body, but the way she accepts being treated like a punching bag/sex-toy is just uncomfortable to watch and never sensual or erotic as it is meant to appear. If you enjoy those love-making scenes, you've probably also considered tying up a woman in your basement. And really, her accepting that treatment makes sense from the perspective of a spy trying to kill Yee, falling in love makes ZERO sense.

Which is of course the final straw that broke the camel's back of realism. The fumbling inanity of this group of rebels fits better in the 3 stooges than in a serious drama/suspense. The silly requirements they put on themselves for killing Yee are laughable and CLEARLY represent an effort by the writers to extend the story. None of their reasoning or efforts make any sense. Why must Yee step inside the house on the dark, deserted street with no one for miles around before they kill him? Why must Yee be at a perfect spot in the jeweler's store and have been there for X minutes and have everyone be given the Go to kill him before killing him? Why can't Mak smuggle in a gun, or a knife, or some poison, or a ligature, or SOMETHING into their numerous lovemaking sessions to kill him with? Its all done in the service of extending the story, and if one thinks about it, as the writers are hoping you will not, the whole story falls apart.

The ending brings us welcome release - FINALLY those incompetent fools that wasted three hours of our life are dead and we can stumble back to our cars. Save yourself! If you're doing it for the nudity, just rent a porno! If you're doing it for a wife... well... sorry to hear that. Grin and bear it I guess.