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Predestination (2014)
Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Writers: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor
Genre: Sci-Fi Drama
Length: 97 minutes
Premise: A Temporal Agent travels through time to stop criminals before they can act. On his last assignment, Ethan Hawke pursues the Fizzle Bomber who has killed 1000's. While undercover in a bar he meets an unusual person who holds the key to stopping the bomber.
Review: The first five minutes of this film is a slick, fast paced, action sequence with rotating camera shots and ultra quick edits, ala Christopher Nolan style...After that one brief action scene the film settles down into a deep reflective drama that takes place in a bar between two unusual people.
For a bar bet the customer tells the barkeep their amazing life story. Through well crafted flash backs we see this person's life unfold on the screen. We see their unique and painful life, starting as an abandoned child growing up in an orphanage. We see the life changing experiences that alter this persons very being.
This is one of the few films that has held me spell bound. I swear I had to remind myself to breath as all of my attention was deeply focused on this most unusual story.
Ethan Hawke is fine as the barkeep, he keeps the emotional level low which brings focus to Sarah Snook's fine performance. She won an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress for this role...and she deserved it. I can't tell you much of the story without revealing the surprising elements, but her performance alone is worth watching.
The third act, at the end of the film departed from the core feeling of the movie. It had more of a Hollywood twisting big ending feel to it. Not a bad ending but it lacked the power that most of the film exhibited.
I give the opening 5 minutes and the last scenes, 3.5 stars. I give the core of the movie a strong 5 stars. Overall my rating is
Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Writers: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor
Genre: Sci-Fi Drama
Length: 97 minutes
Premise: A Temporal Agent travels through time to stop criminals before they can act. On his last assignment, Ethan Hawke pursues the Fizzle Bomber who has killed 1000's. While undercover in a bar he meets an unusual person who holds the key to stopping the bomber.
Review: The first five minutes of this film is a slick, fast paced, action sequence with rotating camera shots and ultra quick edits, ala Christopher Nolan style...After that one brief action scene the film settles down into a deep reflective drama that takes place in a bar between two unusual people.
For a bar bet the customer tells the barkeep their amazing life story. Through well crafted flash backs we see this person's life unfold on the screen. We see their unique and painful life, starting as an abandoned child growing up in an orphanage. We see the life changing experiences that alter this persons very being.
This is one of the few films that has held me spell bound. I swear I had to remind myself to breath as all of my attention was deeply focused on this most unusual story.
Ethan Hawke is fine as the barkeep, he keeps the emotional level low which brings focus to Sarah Snook's fine performance. She won an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress for this role...and she deserved it. I can't tell you much of the story without revealing the surprising elements, but her performance alone is worth watching.
The third act, at the end of the film departed from the core feeling of the movie. It had more of a Hollywood twisting big ending feel to it. Not a bad ending but it lacked the power that most of the film exhibited.
I give the opening 5 minutes and the last scenes, 3.5 stars. I give the core of the movie a strong 5 stars. Overall my rating is