This film goes in my box of "What a shame" flicks-- movies that had great potential but the writer / director just blew it by one single but major flaw. In the case of this one, it was the very disappointing "hang in the air" ending. No spoilers, but it spoiled the movie for me.
To be clear: unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't mind the "scripted, stilted" language. This is a movie set in the future. If there is anything history has shown us, language changes drastically over time. To expect them to speak the same manner in which we speak would be unrealistic. The problem however was the delivery: lines and phases spoken too quickly and without emotion, as if being read off a teleprompter. That's poor directing and acting both.
The story presents a very unique concept. How does one commit a murder in a world where absolutely every detail is recorded, every nanosecond of the day?
Contrary to some vapid claims here, this movie is nothing like The Matrix.. Viewers need to get used to the fact that there are going to be more and more movies about virtual reality... because that field of science is becoming less fictional. Not every movie about virtual worlds is a "rip off" of The Matrix. How many movies have been made about two people falling in love? Yet we still watch romance movies. The entire atmosphere of this movie is different: noir, most of it set in a single room, most of it relying on observation rather than special effects. It's different enough to be interesting... if one can keep up with the Tommy-gun dialog.
What this is... is a pretty decent murder mystery. Plot, mystery, clues, reasonable acting (especially by the primary suspect). What it doesn't have is a well-thought-out ending... and for that inexcusable blunder I give it 4 stars. There's little more that I hate in a movie that for it to string people along for the entire film, then drop the plot on their laps, leaving them to design their own conclusion. Makes one want to taser the director in the tenders, it does.
If someone wishes to watch this, I'd recommend doing so simply for the unusual style of the film. You'll possibly enjoy 99.5% of the film... right down to the last blundering minute. Then maybe not so much. That's the smack, Jack.
To be clear: unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't mind the "scripted, stilted" language. This is a movie set in the future. If there is anything history has shown us, language changes drastically over time. To expect them to speak the same manner in which we speak would be unrealistic. The problem however was the delivery: lines and phases spoken too quickly and without emotion, as if being read off a teleprompter. That's poor directing and acting both.
The story presents a very unique concept. How does one commit a murder in a world where absolutely every detail is recorded, every nanosecond of the day?
Contrary to some vapid claims here, this movie is nothing like The Matrix.. Viewers need to get used to the fact that there are going to be more and more movies about virtual reality... because that field of science is becoming less fictional. Not every movie about virtual worlds is a "rip off" of The Matrix. How many movies have been made about two people falling in love? Yet we still watch romance movies. The entire atmosphere of this movie is different: noir, most of it set in a single room, most of it relying on observation rather than special effects. It's different enough to be interesting... if one can keep up with the Tommy-gun dialog.
What this is... is a pretty decent murder mystery. Plot, mystery, clues, reasonable acting (especially by the primary suspect). What it doesn't have is a well-thought-out ending... and for that inexcusable blunder I give it 4 stars. There's little more that I hate in a movie that for it to string people along for the entire film, then drop the plot on their laps, leaving them to design their own conclusion. Makes one want to taser the director in the tenders, it does.
If someone wishes to watch this, I'd recommend doing so simply for the unusual style of the film. You'll possibly enjoy 99.5% of the film... right down to the last blundering minute. Then maybe not so much. That's the smack, Jack.