Hyper-Kinetic Thriller That's Intriguing But Has A Flawed Logic

Rating: 6/10 (29 June 2013)

Author Eddie Morra is suffering writer's block . Meeting drug dealer Vernon Gant he tries out a new synthetic drug NZT which increases Eddie's mental powers . Wanting another supply of NZT Eddie turns up at Vernon's flat and finds him dead
Director Neil Burger knows how to grab an audience and pull them in to a movie . LIMITLESS has one of the most hypnotic in your face mindbending openings I've seen in a film for a very long time . The editing by Tracy Adams and Naomi Geraghty along with the cinematography by Jo Williems and most effectively the grunge cum techno hypno beat all conspire to make the audience think they'll be watching a truly unforgettable film . Manipulative visual film making ? Possible . Owes a lot to Danny Boyle and David Fincher ? Certainly . Will the film be able to sustain these great early sequences ? Well we are talking Hollywood movies here aren't we ?
From a continuity point of view LIMITLESS is slightly guilty of if not cheating then certainly being guilty of being vague as to the power of NZT . Supposedly it increases IQ to unimaginable potential where Eddie effectively knows everything . This is nonsensical to say the least . IQ merely means you posses a high level of intelligence which can be tested by standardised tests . Certainly someone with a very high IQ would be good at things such as science but that's entirely different from possessing knowledge but as the story progresses Eddie seems to continually know everything . Intelligence is different from intellect which is something screenwriter Leslie Dixon seems to have euphemistically mixed up
None of this really matters in the first half because as I've said the language of cinema on a visual level is done so very well and it's easy to forgive any minor flaws if it's to set up a great story . I did mention Danny Boyle and the most vocal problem with a Boyle film is that the second half can't sustain the momentum of the first half and we see the same problem with Neil Burger . The rather mundane plot then focuses on some mobsters wanting to get their hands on NZT from Eddie and they won't stop at anything . As everyone has complained about this certainly a film of two halves and I agree