Self/less Reviews

I've got to know Tarsem Singh because "The Fall", which i think it's been his only masterpiece which makes Self/Less looking like quite a disaster.
The plot could anyway make this film an at least decent one, maybe nothing new but decent and I love Sci-fi usually.
Instead there is nothing that works in it, characters are not beleivable and it is predictable and trivial.
I guess I maybe expected too much.

Even though this movie didn't get much love when it was released, since I have always been interested in Tarsem Singh's work, I still wanted to check it out. Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be another really disappointing effort from the once so promising director. I have to admit it though, even though the concept was nothing original, it did have some potential but the biggest mistake they made was to take the most boring approach possible. Indeed, they could have developed the psychology of the main character by making him a selfish a-hole or they could have gone for a dark comedy and make this businessman with no fighting skills face some highly skills henchmen. Instead, they went for the usual generic conspiracy thriller which was just so tedious and the ending was just so damned predictable. Furthermore, after 'The Change-Up', it was another body switch movie in which Ryan Reynolds was not convincing at all. I mean, there was not one single moment that I believed that Reynolds was playing the same character as Ben Kingsley was, only with a new body. On top of that, until that point, Tarsem Singh had always made some really beautiful movies, visually speaking, but even in this area, this movie was nothing really impressive at all. Anyway, to conclude, this damned thing was a major disappointment and I don't think it is really worth a look at all. 

This movie is actually worth watching! I think it's the fact that people complain that the trailer gives away the whole movie is the issue, but the fact that they don't really know what's actually happening in the story.

Initial Thought: From the trailer I thought it looked like a fun and interesting idea. I usually get a kick out of science fiction stories. I haven't really heard anything good about it though unfortunately. One of my managers kept telling me not to see it. I decided to see for myself if it really is all that bad.

Characters/Acting: It has a pretty excellent cast with Ben Kingsley, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Goode, and Victor Garber. Ben Kingsley is excellent here even if he is barely in the film. Ryan Reynolds is fun to watch as usual in my opinion. I simply adored Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen who plays the daughter. Matthew Goode always chooses such interesting villains.

Story: A dying real estate mogul transfers his consciousness into a healthy young body, but soon finds that neither the procedure nor the company that performed it are quite what they seem. It's got elements that remind me of Source Code and Total Recall. The concept is neat and interesting. The whole thing does end up feeling a bit cliche. It's not necessarily bad, but it could have done something new with its concept. There are so many twists and turns throughout the entire thing. I absolutely loved the ending. It was a bit predictable, but the way everything plays out was still enjoyable.

Directing/Writing: So this is directed by Tarsem Singh. I really enjoyed Immortals. Cell and Mirror Mirror were watchable, but nowhere near what I was hoping they would be. From the Pastor brothers I have only seen Carriers. That was definitely an enjoyable watch for me. So I don't see how this could really be that bad.

Final Thought: I went in expecting some crapfest. What I got I found rather enjoyable. I was entertained from start to finish. So what it seems like a mash up of ideas and cliches. It still kept my attention until the credits. It's certainly not the best thing ever, but it was from bad in my opinion. I think it's a good one time watch.