The Most Original Thriller In Years

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2013)

Source Code
***1/2 (out of 4)
93 mins/12
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden
Director: Duncan Jones
Plot: Soldier, Colter Stevens, is on an assignment to find out who placed a bomb on a train in Chicago. He is forced to keep reliving the moment until he finds the bomber.
JJ's Verdict: Source Code opens with some overhead shots of the city of Chicago. These shots are beautiful and although seen many times before, feel completely original. This is down to constant uses of many shades of blue that stand out in the city. There are no feminine colours; just masculine. These describe the film perfectly. Source Code is a man's dream thriller showing a true, down to earth character making realistic decisions. When other films would just give the guy a gun, Source Code gives the guy a brain and a good deal of common sense. Another point is that (like the opening shots in the city) although we have seen similar plot elements in films like Groundhog Day, Inception and Robocop, Source Code feels so original.
The film centres on Colter Stevens, a soldier who keeps returning to the same eight minutes in time to find out who is planting bombs on trains all around Chicago. These scenes are very intense and suspenseful and the film uses that clever trick to keep the audience interested; don't overload the film with detail, just reveal each little bit every few scenes or so. Of course, in a movie cliché, Colter gets easily distracted and falls semi-in-love with Michelle Monaghan. Although this may frustrate the viewer as they wish to see the film move on, it is pretty realistic. Jake Gyllenhaal brings an honest feel to his hero role and, like I already mentioned, acts like a normal person would. He really brings the character's despair and frustration of having to see the same people die over and over again. The rest of the cast performs well, with Jeffrey Wright making a great transformation into the serious header of the operation. Vera Famiga and Michelle Monaghan also put in solid performances, Famiga as the only person Colter can communicate with in-between his mission.
Source Code, despite probably defying many laws of quantum physics, is entertaining, pretty original and extremely well-paced.