Source Code Review

 What would you do, if you knew you only had a minute to live?

Dare I say, it's almost impossible to be original in sci-fi these days. Computers have birthed the golden age of movies that are actually capable of fully realizing the genre (I am looking at you Dune); yet, in the interest of studios pick-pocketing each others ideas and corporate greed, we get a lot of half-baked vampire and werewolf movies (along with the implied "Furry" deviance of werewolves loving ON vampires), with the occasional big-budget space-exploring gem. Thinking back, the last time I really had a well-rounded sci-fi experience was probably Serenity, yet even that was piggy-backed off a known quantity in it's T.V. counterpart, Firefly.

So, I'll be honest, the quality of Source Code kind of took me by surprise, and it's actually a breath of fresh air. Hell it's a damn success even with Joe Geronimo as the lead actor.

To give anything but the basic premise would really do this movie an injustice, as most of the fun is amount of disorientation and anxiety the audience and the main character have  figuring out what exactly is going on. I am glad the studio hasn't conceded too much of the plot to the ad-campaign, but I fear for the movies box-office as it's flown relatively under the radar (believe me, it doesn't deserve to get trounced by Hop)

It's like all these things, except with more explosions and less Bill Murray being an asshole.

The story: a soldier is sent back in time to help avert a bombing. Suffice to say, it's a helluva lot more complicated than that, but any information you have prior to seeing the movie takes away from it's effectiveness, as you could already start to piece the plot together. The film is part Quantum Leap, part Groundhog Day, and part Assassins Creed (a videogame?) in terms of the science.

This guy can act? NOWAI!

 I never thought I would say it, but I was really blown away by Jake Gyllenhall's performance in Source Code. His range through this movie is quite a thing to see, and it can be doubly cool when you realize that his character is actually just an extension of the audience, as we are reacting to the same amount of information as his Cpl. Colter Stevens;  Gyllenhall effortlessly evokes and mirrors all our own natural progression of emotions as he and the audience fly deeper down the rabbit hole of the source code. I would say that he has great chemistry with Michelle Monaghan, but that's a foregone conclusion, as he seemingly "shtups"  every actress he works with. So yes, they had "chemistry."

This is one of those movies, however, where the ending is supremely predictable; but you know what - it's not a bad thing;  you root for the ending, and the final trip down in the source code is beautiful and a little heady in it's implications. Let's just say, there is infinite room for sequels. Please Joe Geronimo, more of this, and less of THIS.

****
- Clint