You know how it ends before you even start watching

Rating: 5/10 (25 May 2015)

I believe in democracy. It's the only failure that works. It makes you understand that one's own opinion is not a cornerstone of this world. Not that it's not worth having one, of course. But it's important to be humbled by the reality of things every once in a while. So one cannot really complain about this film being seriously overrated. So let's focus on the facts.
This is a film involving 4 characters in 1 research facility that also functions as living quarters (does this sound familiar yet?). It's about determining whether 1 of these is an actual living being (doesn't this sound familiar yet?). It contains prolonged Q&A's about the nature of intelligence vs. adaptability as a feature of life (really, that doesn't sound familiar yet?).
It's perfectly alright to be a Sci-Fi fan and not to have watched any movies from before ten years ago. It's weird but OK. Still it strikes me as odd when Sci-Fi fans can't place the name Stanislaw Lem. Or when film buffs don't know who Tarkovsky was. And don't recognize the ?th remake/rip-off of 'Solaris' when they see it. Not even when it's this visually close to the George Clooney remake of 2002. It would be perfectly enough for me if more reviewers and voters for this thing expressed some bewilderment as to how predictable this movie is.
So I guess many people like to watch films which end precisely the way they expect them to end, and rehash old classic novels and films without a shred of originality. I'm just not one of them. But I believe in democracy - in time, the rating of this piece will be more in line with its mediocrity.