Self/Less Review

2015 in film

Jul 6

Written By Rendy Jones

Preview

PG13: Sequences of Violence, Some Sexuality, and Language

Grammecy Pictures, Endgame Entertainment

1 hr and 57 Minutes

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Natalie Martinez, Victor Garber, with Matthew Goode, and Jaynee Lynne Kinchen

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during my adolescence. Outdated language might be seen in these old posts. Since then, my thoughts and values have grown. This review is being presented as they were originally written, grammatical errors, shitty sentence structure, and typos galore. Because to do otherwise would be that same as claiming these flaws never existed.

BACKSTORY: Monday June 29th after work I go to a screening/ Q&A of Self/Less. Several days ago I went to a Q&A of Terminator, and month before that was a Q&A of Inside Out. So I would think filmmakers or actors would be there. Anticipating myself thinking this would have Ryan Reynolds or Sir Ben Kingsley after the screening, they announced it was about look inside the human mind. Of course I was disappointed it's a college type of panel discussion, but after the film I was outraged.

STORYLINE: An extremely wealthy man, dying from cancer, undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man. But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body's origin and the organization that will to protect its cause.

REVIEW: Self/Less markets itself as a smart Sci Fi action thriller. It obnoxiously does that from the trailers and commercials and especially in the movie. It starts so out of left field where from the 1st minute I'm already going "did I miss something? Is there a backstory to this?" We follow our main character but he's a complete cock. From the first minutes we see him I'm already rooting for him to die. As the film goes on the tension builds where you'll think it'll get smart but by the 20 minute mark it completely dropped the ball for everything it had you going for. You're end up watching a 2 hr action chase film. Where most of the plot is revolved around science fiction, there's no fucking science in this it's just stupidity. The big plot twist of the film is really that THIS FILM ISN'T SCIENCE FICTION! DON'T FUCKING GIVE ME A GODDAMN PANEL ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY WHEN THE FILM DOESN'T HAVE A BRAIN OF ITS OWN! It doesn't matter how great the leads are, but with the shit material they were given, I couldn't help but just feel sorry for them. Its one of the most cheapest run of the mill ripoff of Face Off. The film does finish strong, but the entire hour and fifty minutes was a dizzy roller coaster ride I just wanted to get off.

LAST STATEMENT: Though it has a satisfying ending, Self/Less is a poorly edited, poorly shot action thriller that obnoxiously thinks itself as something its not and tries so hard to be smarter than it actually is.