ramesestsarina2

I would like to start by saying I am not a gaming person. So I have no knowledge of, or interest in, this film's resemblance to the game it is based on. Good things – the leading actors are all well known and capable. The fact that this film is still pretty dull essentially means that even Michael Fassberger, Jeremy Irons, and Marion Cotillard could not save this movie. I will give them full marks for trying, however. Acting was about the only thing I felt worked here. The production was visually appealing, I suppose, but all of this paled in the face of the utterly ridiculous plot. I love fantasy, and I am quite happy to suspend disbelief and enjoy a good yarn. But this plot just got beyond the whole suspension of disbelief and went happily into ridiculous from the start. What is this machine they are using? How was it made? How could such a thing be remotely possible? No attempted explanation was given, it was just there as a plot device. How could a machine possibly put you into a past life, just because an ancestor had similar dna. How can the other people possibly be seeing the things the hooked up person is seeing? And the 'apple' – the million dollar question is this- if the apple removes free will, how are the Templars going to protect themselves from having their free will removed so they can control everybody else? So many questions, no answers. I am firmly of the belief that if you are going to present a fantasy, it needs to be logical within its own universe. This wasn't.

The idea of this movie is a great one, examining the nature of reality, asking questions about how we accept what we see, and how do we really know what is real and what is not? It is interesting that the movie does not really comment on the rights or wrongs of the obsessive gaming being portrayed, which I believe was a wise choice, as otherwise the movie may have become disjointed by splitting its attention between two themes.

The cast were very good. I felt that all actors did an excellent job, especially portraying the changeable personalities necessary to the plot, including the ambiguities that make the audience question whether they are observing a character or a player.

I do think the script and plot were flawed. There were holes in the plot that could not always be taken as hints to what is real and what is not.

In conclusion, this is an entertaining movie. I would class it as pretty good, but not great.