Predestination
When you have a movie this unique, it’s hard to write a review for the reader who has not seen the movie yet and not sort of throw out a few spoilers. Because it’s so unique it will give you a predetermined expectation going into the movie. For instance, if you hear that it’s a “whodunit,” then you’ll be on your toes, so to speak, looking for clues from the get-go. If you hear it’s a tragedy, then you don’t allow yourself to get too attached to the main characters.
Sometimes a DVD/movie review is written for those who haven’t watched it yet. Other times, a review like this is more like an affirming message to those who have seen it already. They’ll say, “Oh yeah, he nailed it! That’s exactly what it was like!” Or maybe, “Oh, man – he completely missed it! What was he thinking?”
So, Predestination is crazy! It will blow your mind. Do you remember the first time you saw the movie Memento? This movie for sure belongs in the same conversation. The narrative twists sideways a little more than Momento. They both involve solving a mysterious crime, but this one might blow your mind a little more. It’s impressive to tell a story about time travel and its implications in a creative new way, but this one has the ability to unnerve the viewer a bit.
Adapted from the short story by Robert A. Heinlein, All You Zombies, it’s fun to see the ’50s and ’60s visions of the future portrayed – especially with Jane (Sarah Snook) going through the recruitment and application process with ScaceCorp. Ethan Hawke does a great job of playing this lonesome, hard-working Temporal Agent on a mission. He’s tasked with time travel missions to stop crimes before they happen – an idea that got in our conscious a decade or so ago with Minority Report. The clandestine government agency that employs him and motivates him to risk his life for the betterment of society offers the sort of direction that mind-bending, sacrificial servants need in navigating these trippy waters.
The special effects and logic leaps made in the sci-fi aspects of this movie are well done. The bonus materials on the DVD/Blu-ray disc include a lengthy 75-minute documentary that offers more insight into the ethics and logic behind what you just witnessed. This is good, because watching this movie might leave you scratching your head for a good long while. “What just happened? Was he? Did she? What? How? Really?!?”
Owning this is probably better than renting, because you might want (and/or need) to watch it more than once. I dug this little adventure called “watching a movie.” That was fun. Kudos to the directing team – the Spierig Brothers – for stretching this short story into a compelling movie. [Sony Pictures] Doug Van Pelt
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