Good. And with some nice visuals.

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2009)

So, for whatever stupid reason, I chose to watch this movie Memento-style (that is, backwards chapter-wise) and I must say that it was an exciting and enlightening experience. Why did I do this? Other than being crazy, essentially to switch things up. With how formulaic movies are becoming these days (or have been since the beginning of time), what better way to cut through to the heart of a film's qualities than by destroying its narrative flow? Exposition no longer counts for anything but style and mood persevere. The story is easily pieced together.
Unsurprisingly, I was reminded of Memento whilst watching Retoohs (let's call it), what with suddenly being thrown into all manner of situations with no clear explanation of how or why. In fact, funnily enough, the scene which least grabbed my attention was the opening one (when it finally came). It eases you in whereas the others just take off and expect the audience to keep up (which I liked a lot). It was also fun trying to piece things together backwards, speculating about what's already happened and how people got where they are rather than the regular what's coming next, which is ironically much easier. The stupid thing is, almost all movies are probably about 10 times more predictable forwards than they are backwards.
Films are meant to create tension and build to astounding climaxes, right? But these days, the over-emphasis on dialogue prevents the audience (presumed to be borderline retarded one would think) from having time to sit back and enjoy the film. Does everything really need to be explained? It's an interactive experience (in that you ideally personally relate to the story and characters based on your own past). Retoohs has the courage to meditate at least a little on its ideas. When filmmakers believe they've got something special, they're not afraid to take their time, savour the moments. The audience can sense this a mile-away and are all-too-willing to join in.
Anyway, onto the actual movie itself, probably my favourite thing about it was the cinematography. Or whatever you call it, the locations, the overall look, the way the action scenes were filmed. In terms of acting, Mark Wahlberg's minimalistic kind of acting always seems to work somehow and the rest were perfectly good at acting serious. Danny Glover's voice was hilariously difficult to understand a couple of times but otherwise, he was just fine and dandy in his role.
I think the strength of the movie lies in its simplicity. When it sticks to the facts of the story and its implicit power, its quite entertaining to watch. Too many movies try to force too much out of the plot (creating fake drama and emotions) but Retoohs goes easy. It has more respect for its audience than the typical (action) movie. Just give us something we haven't quite seen before, wow us with impressive stunts, committed acting and some plot twists and do it honestly. At its best, Retoohs is a memorable movie experience and even a bit thought provoking. But it also doesn't try to be a classic and in that it certainly succeeds.