Source Code (Duncan Jones 2011)
Posted on April 16 at 16.17, 2011 by The occasional blogger
I am probably naive. It must be all that Sci-Fi stuff i watch and read. Because you see, i don’t find Source Code that implausible. All the reviews i have read on this film, whether positive or negative, have dismissed the ‘science’ as hogwash. I can’t go much further here without revealing spoilers (so, watch out, spoilers ahead!), but let’s just say that one of my philosophies, which is one that many Sci-Fi lovers share, is that, given enough time, nothing is impossible. We are today doing things and using devices that seemed impossible as recently as 50 years ago. Why people don’t understand this is beyond me. There is a tendency to always focus on this particular point in our evolution or history, but when viewed from a much larger time perspective – if you think we have made progress in the last 100 years, what will we be able to achieve in the next 5000? – nothing is impossible, and especially not things such as mind-uploading and alternate universes, virtual or not, that can be reached via a technologically enhanced brain.
Most of these same reviews also refer to time travel as the primary Sci-Fi angle of this film. But i don’t see time travel in Source Code. I see fate, destiny, free-will, multiverse, life and death ethics, virtual reality, human enhancement, and, last but not least, love. So Source Code does pack quite a heavy thematic punch, and all in 86 minutes, but it’s not about time travel, at least not in any significant way.
Duncan Jones previously gave us Moon, which was one of my top films for 2009. With Source Code, he proves that Moon was no accident and that he truly has a gift for making interesting Sci-Fi films. And i don’t mean Sci-Fi in the sense that unfortunately prevails in cinema today. I mean Sci-Fi in a purer sense, the type of Sci-Fi that use to draw the admiration of many, the type of Sci-Fi that made you think and ask ‘what if?’. This is what i have always loved about Sci-Fi, that it allows one to contemplate incredible scenarios and to remain open to what could be.
Source Code is a smart film, well-acted and well-directed. I believe Mark Kermode calls it “Inception-lite’ but i certainly do not think this is an inferior movie. It is perhaps slightly less ambitious but in opinion, not much at all separates the two. I might even favor Source Code in some respect.
In any case, well worth watching.
UPDATE 27 April 2011: I have now watched Source Code and Inception twice, and i can safely say that Source Code is the better film.
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6 Responses to “Source Code”
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Jon Ramster Says:
April 24, 2011 at 10.16Nice review Riccy. Couldn’t agree more. I really found the performances very touching and found it much more focused than Inception.
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Eric Says:
April 27, 2011 at 9.26hi Jon, thanks for still reading my blog. You are one of my most loyal readers! How is life in London?
cheers,
eric -
Affiliate Marketing Says:
May 28, 2011 at 8.23Cool trailer!
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Jarrod Says:
November 18, 2011 at 23.58Eric,
Wow 4 stars. I gave it 2, glad I saw it on the plane otherwise I would have felt ripped off. Though it was good to see and sci-fi version of Groundhog Day. -
Eric Says:
December 2, 2011 at 12.18hi Jarrod, maybe watching it on a plane had something to do with it? It is quite a good film i think…
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2011: A Year in Review - An irregular blog about cinema and sci-fi, with some social and environmental stuff thrown in occasionally Says:
February 12, 2012 at 13.13[...] place, i have Source Code and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I have already reviewed Source Code here. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy prequel to one of the greatest Sci-Fi stories of all [...]