I now have a review paradox. Without spoiling the movie, the review would be nothing but vague and rambling (which someone could argue wouldn’t be different from any other of my reviews). However, giving away this nugget of the plot truly does ruin the movie, as in I was actually digging the flick until the big secret was revealed. So I either ruin any pleasure one can derive from the film, before it even happens, or I can reveal the big secret to give a more accurate picture of why this movie fails. Whatever. Let the spoilers rain down!
Ok, so plot is everyday slacker Jerry Shaw (Shia TheBeouf) is framed as being a terrorist by some unknown entity, who uses him as an agent to perform various acts for them, all while monitoring him by hacking into various uses of surveillance that exist (security cameras, cellphones, etc.) and helping him out, by again hacking into various machinery that exist (traffic lights, large cranes, etc.). He is accompanied by single mom Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), who is also being coerced by the mysterious forces by threatening to derail the train seven year-old her son is on to go and play a concert in Washington (the important one, not the state). Also government officials (various actors) are pursuing them.
Admittedly this is the only way the movie fails (of course it is, as the kids are saying, an “epic fail”) The action is suspenseful and cool, TheBeouf and Monaghan have good chemistry and sell their respective predicaments, and the political intrigue works well, if you can get your mind to ignore the super computer thing (and you have to really want to ignore it).
So if you don’t care about stupid, trite, hackneyed, stilted, clichéd, unimaginative pseudo-twist that ruined this movie for me, you should enjoy the flick. TheBeouf is still great and has plenty of potential. Hopefully he’ll be in movie that isn’t an affront to the annals of cinema.
Rating: 5/10
Ok, so plot is everyday slacker Jerry Shaw (Shia TheBeouf) is framed as being a terrorist by some unknown entity, who uses him as an agent to perform various acts for them, all while monitoring him by hacking into various uses of surveillance that exist (security cameras, cellphones, etc.) and helping him out, by again hacking into various machinery that exist (traffic lights, large cranes, etc.). He is accompanied by single mom Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), who is also being coerced by the mysterious forces by threatening to derail the train seven year-old her son is on to go and play a concert in Washington (the important one, not the state). Also government officials (various actors) are pursuing them.
Ok, then the curtained is pulled back and we all discover what’s really going on. Turns out surveillance monitoring government computer has gone rogue, because when it determined attacking that the person the US government thought was a major terrorist was unwise because facial recognitioning couldn’t get a high percent chance of likelihood it was the dude, it was ignored and the president went ahead with the strike anyway. Well, turns out the computer was correct, it wasn’t the guy, so now pissed off Middle Easterns are blowing up US embassies in retaliation for us killing innocent people (but how innocent are they? They are living in the Middle East). So now the computer, in order to prevent further loss of American lives through poor decision making, feels that it should kill the president and various other people along the chain of command, putting the Secretary of Defense (Michael “The Thing” Chiklis) in charge. It’s kinda assumed this is because he did advise the president to listen to the computer’s advice, so I guess the computer feels he’d be better in charge. But Jerry Shaw’s twin brother in the Army discovered the computer’s coup and put a security lock-down or whatever, so the computer could not follow through with it. The computer then kills Jerry’s twin with its traffic magic, before he can tell anyone, but since he is the only one who can unlock the computer, the computer gets his twin to do it, because that’s just as good. Then the computer can use single mom Rachel’s son to kill everybody at the State of the Union address through music (remember how I mentioned him briefly at the beginning? You thought he wasn’t going to be a part of it right, just a secondary character to add pathos? Well you were wrong!). Will the computer take over America? Or will somehow against all odds will Jerry rise to the occasion and stop it? Pay $8.50 to find out. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Ok, really? A sentient computer goes rogue and takes over humanity? Really? I mean forget that this movie is ideologically speaking exactly 2001: A Space Odyssey, except you replace the space ship with America, you’ve still got so many other movies with the exact same thing happening, Terminator, The Matrix, I, Robot, that one unaired episode of the Jetsons where Rosie malfunctions and kills Elroy, the list goes on. And that’s really a shame because when I saw the previews I was very interested in enjoying the ride this flick was going to be. Enjoying the action of the good ol’ Hitchcock average guy caught up in international intrigue, while we slowly learn who’s behind, what they are doing, and then of course why they are doing it. Once it was revealed that Hal 9000 was behind it all my interest really just took a nose dive. It was like someone had a good idea, but couldn’t really think of a good reason why this all was happening so they just reused 2001 and called it a day. And look I’m all in support of movies stealing from one another. Quentin Tarantino has proven this is a good way to make awesome movies. But you have to take the idea and make it yours, not just take the idea and shove it in your plot so your movie has some place to go. Admittedly they made it political in nature, but that just means they mixed it with Dr. Strangelove too.
Admittedly this is the only way the movie fails (of course it is, as the kids are saying, an “epic fail”) The action is suspenseful and cool, TheBeouf and Monaghan have good chemistry and sell their respective predicaments, and the political intrigue works well, if you can get your mind to ignore the super computer thing (and you have to really want to ignore it).
So if you don’t care about stupid, trite, hackneyed, stilted, clichéd, unimaginative pseudo-twist that ruined this movie for me, you should enjoy the flick. TheBeouf is still great and has plenty of potential. Hopefully he’ll be in movie that isn’t an affront to the annals of cinema.
Rating: 5/10
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