Watched: January 6, 2019
Kegger Rating: 1 Star
MM Rating: 1 Star
Kegger’s Review (Spoilers ahead)
This movie was not on our original list, and MM talked me into it, saying that we could just have it on instead of our usual fare (lately, re-watching Parks and Rec. I heart Ben and Leslie!). At first, I was like, okay, Ben Affleck. Not my favorite actor, but I can deal with a couple hours of him.
It started out weird. Yes, like normal futuristic movies, it begins with a whole bunch of crazy, unexplained scenes. Ben’s walking around what looks like a trade show, grabs some equipment, reverse engineers it, hits it off with a lady in red, and then we’re sped forward in time to see Ben in a chair with a weird contraption around his head, while Paul Giamatti, in the worst dirty nerd getup is selectively erasing Ben’s memories using a laptop, yelling at someone standing near him NOT TO BUMP INTO THE LAPTOP, BECAUSE IT WOULD CAUSE BEN’S MIND TO RISE IN TEMPERATURE.
Seriously. There are so many things wrong here. How would physically moving a laptop change the temperature of a man’s brain?
I figured, okay, this is a sci-fi flick – they’ll explain it.
Nope.
Okay, now we’re talking about his next job, which is going to be loads longer, and it’s with a guy who is obviously the bad guy (Aaron Eckhart). Yeah, I gave it away. But it’s obvious.
We meet a couple other people along the way, maybe within 5 minutes, and then all of a sudden, Ben’s memory is erased, using a different method, and he’s left behind clues that make no sense whatsoever, and we’re on a chase to figure it all out.
In general, not the worst concept to a movie.
But the problem? The problem is that those of us who are watching are in a worse state than the main character whose memory was erased! There are inside jokes between characters that you really wish you’d been able to see. Because everything of value occurred before his memory was erased, there’s absolutely no character development. He falls in love, yes. But why? NO ONE KNOWS BECAUSE IT HAPPENED BEFORE HIS MEMORY WAS ERASED. There are no flashbacks of any value, nothing that tells the viewer what happened in the past that changed all motivations for the main character.
The reason behind the bad guy is never explained. The love interest’s motivations are never explained. Dirty-nerd Paul Giamatti is never given anything to work with, other than being a dirty nerd.
It had so much potential. The concept was good. But the execution was horrible.
MM asked me if I’d rather watch this or Red Sparrow. I chose this, but only because of the lack of graphic violence, and the possibility that watching it again may provide some kind of insight of what the hell was going on. But I’ll be honest. I’m probably not going to watch this movie again. Waste of time.
MM’s Review
Oh yeah, experiences like THIS are why we stopped trying new movies!
At face value, this is an interesting adventure. Man gets memory wiped, man leaves himself clues to help execute a desperate mission. Sort of a reverse heist, plus adventure along the way. Sign me up!
Except the clues are garbage, the desperate mission is garbage, the protagonist is garbage, and the heist is garbage. The idea is sound, the execution is not. Far too many leaps of reasoning that just don’t make sense.
The action sequences raise eyebrows more than pulses, and we’re subjected to chases that are just boring. I got up to clean the kitchen during a motorcycle chase, and was disappointed when I finished before the chase did. During a shootout, after several bad guys miss the protagonist (and are subsequently killed), one of the baddies corners the protagonist and orders them to drop their weapon. WHY? You were just trying to kill him, on orders from the Baddie Supreme – just shoot! Shockingly, they’re disarmed and the protagonist escapes.
Paul Giamatti’s character was likeable, but that’s probably just because he was the amusingly bumbling guy in an otherwise drab movie. If you’re wondering, John Woo DID manage to work in a white dove/pigeon, so we’ve got that going for us.