Good Fun

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2012)

Though not perfect, and a bit of waste of an interesting concept that put to better use could have been a far more wide reaching sci-fi about the power of human consciousness and ambition in a society without limits, Limitless is a perfectly enjoyable thriller. Bradley Cooper makes for a charismatic star, the visual tricks employed by director Neil Burger are flashy bordering on trippy, and the supporting cast all do reasonable jobs. The dialogue however, is very clichéd, especially when Cooper is on ezt and talks as though he googled, "how to sound clever" The result is the kind of thing a gang of pretentious teenage boys might blurt out before being mocked incessantly for sounding pretentious, and kills the illusion that Eddie is as smart as the film thinks he is. There are also various issues with the people that follow the main character, as they seem to pick and choose when to threaten him, and when to simply wait in plain view. The whole film is oddly weightless, it left no emotional impact and I didn't particularly care about any of the characters, Coopers charisma and my need to see the next twist were all that kept me watching. Overall, a good, fun thriller, but one that could have used a slightly stupider premise, as the smart one it uses is utterly wasted