Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Running Time: 93 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller/Drama
UK Release Date: 1st April 2011
Watched on Sky+ Saturday 16th February 2013.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
Having watched, and loved, the first film directed by Duncan Jones, Moon (2009) - twice, I was very interested to see this, his second feature (for the second time also). A TV showing the other week afforded me the opportunity to record it but other commitments have kept me from viewing it until now. I had almost forgotten just how good it is; maybe a little rushed here and there, but still a very good film. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.
Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan who wakes up on a train sitting across from a beautiful woman, Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan). He is confused and disorientated at first, but after a while he begins to calm down. Just as he thinks everything is going to be alright, BOOM… the train blows up and he finds himself back in some kind of capsule. The face of Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) appears on a monitor and asks him if he has found the bomber. Even more confusion sweeps over Stevens as he tries to figure out just what has happened to him. Goodwin calms him down and sends him back in, explaining that it is very important that he finds the bomb and the bomber. She also explains that he will only have eight minutes each time. Going back, he realises that the woman across from him is a friend of the person he is inhabiting. He goes back quite a few times, each time to the same point in time and each time he discovers more about Christina and each time he gets closer to finding the bomber although he is distracted by what he finds out about himself whilst there. He eventually becomes obsessed with saving Christina and the other passengers, and to this end he takes a massive risk. I’ll leave it there.
This is a very well made film with lots of attention to detail, everything fits and everything works pretty well. There are overtones of Groundhog Day (1993), in that a time period is repeated, but I found this one very different. Although not as good as ‘Moon’, IMO, I really liked this film and I’m glad I gave it a second look. It’s nicely paced, there’s a pretty good soundtrack, although it’s quite subdued and at ninety three minutes, it’s not too long. Over all, it’s a well written, nicely paced piece of science fiction with quite a nice twist at the end. Comparisons have been made with ‘Inception’ but I’m not even going to go there, they are totally different. I didn’t score it quite as highly as first time around because I felt it didn’t have quite the impact it did on the big screen. Still a very enjoyable watch though.
SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED
My score: 8.2/10.
IMDb Score: 7.5/10 (based on 202,852 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/
MetaScore: 74/100: (Based on 41 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 91/100 (based on 234 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 81/100 (based on 97,010 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/source_code/
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FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Christina Warren: I took your advice. It was good advice, thank you.
Colleen Goodwin: [about the Source Code program] The program wasn't designed to alter the past. It was designed to affect the future.
Dr. Rutledge: Source Code is not time travel. Rather, Source Code is time re-assignment. It gives us access to a parallel reality.
Colter Stevens: Tell me everything gonna be okay.
Christina Warren: Everything's gonna be okay.
[train explodes]
Colter Stevens: Christina, what would you do if you knew you had less than one minute to live?
Christina Warren: I'd make those seconds count.
Colter Stevens: I'd kiss you again.
Christina Warren: Again?
[he kisses her]
LINKS:
(NOTE: All links were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.enterthesourcecode.com/
Trailer:
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