Am I dead?.....

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2011)

Colter Stevens, a US Army helicopter pilot whose last memory is flying in Afghanistan, wakes up on a commuter train. However, he discovers that he has assumed the identity of another man.
8 minutes later, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself in some kind of pod. He then talks to someone named Goodwin, who tells him he has to go back and find out who the bomber is.
He is sent back to go through the whole thing again and attempts to find who the bomber is but fails. The bomb goes off and Stevens finds himself in the pod again.
He is sent back another time, yet still cannot find out anything. When he returns, he asks what is going on. Goodwin and Rutledge, the scientist in charge, tell him that he is part of a project that can put someone in another person's consciousness during the last 8 minutes of their life.....
Twelve Monkeys, Groundhog day, The matrix, Inception, blah blah blah. Any influential sci fi film over the last twenty years has been placed in a review somewhere and has led to the film being called it's........... meets...........
And while the film does appear to reference other movies, it's merits are in the performances and the narration of the movie. Jones proves again he is probably the most important Sci Fi Auteur at the moment, and has gone a bit more Hollywood this time than Moon, But shows how he can handle a bigger budget and a bigger cast.
The films easy to follow and there are some red herrings thrown in, but right until halfway through the third act, the films as exciting as Speed. But then Jones makes a fatal mistake of doing the lovey Dovey thing. Anyone would know that the two leads would fall for each other come the end, but to have the passengers tell jokes and have a Matrix Bullet Time scene? It almost ruins the film. It's near perfect up until then and just turns into sentimental rubbish.
Do yourself a favour, if you want to see a fantastic film, Leave when Farmiga doesn't d what she's told to do, other wise, it'll taint your view of a an exciting, nail-biting sci fi thriller.