Source Code (2011)

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2012)

With MOON, Duncan Jones created an interesting sci-fi premise based on some vague, implausible science and used it to explore questions of identity and free will. Here, he does the same thing, but the emphasis is more on the vague, implausible science and less on the character-based struggles. So, when the science starts getting more and more complicated and making less and less sense, it's a problem. I didn't really care how Jake Gyllenhaal was doing these things or what the scientific implications are, except that the movie kept trying to make me care about them. I liked the suspense and action of the first hour, and the more emotional route the film takes in the last part. But all this silly science kept getting in the way, leading to an unsatisfying ending that has little to do with the humanity of the story. I should also note that even though MOON was derivative in a lot of ways, this felt less original to me. It is a mildly enjoyable entertainment, well-crafted and refreshingly brief. But none of it really lingers with me, and the cast is entirely lackluster.