Ray Garrison, an elite soldier who was killed in battle, is brought back to life by an advanced technology that gives him the ability of superhuman strength and fast healing. With his new abilities, he goes after the man who killed his wife, or at least, who he believes killed his wife. He soon comes to learn that not everything he learns can be trusted. The true question his: Can he even trust himself?
Vin Diesel’s an uber-nerd, apparently. I learned this only recently and still, I’m surprised. Makes sense given the few roles he’s played over the last 20 years have all been sci-fi or fantasy (including the F&F franchise.) Seeing his name as a producer on this one explains how it got off the ground in the first place. We also need to understand: this movie got its funding from Chinese production companies who are out to make a name for themselves. Diesel’s got sway with those companies after his Fast & Furious films sell like crazy abroad. Unfortunately, Diesel’s less-than-convincing charisma can’t carry the entire film, and it’s editing (as well as effects) feel so unevenly spliced together it’s hard to appreciate at all.
Vin Diesel plays Ray Garrison. Every day he wakes up in a laboratory told by Guy Pearce he has nanites in his blood. Every day he hunts down and kills his wife’s killer. Every day he assassinates another target. Eiza González plays his handler, a former Navy officer with breathing tubes built into her trachea. After a pang of conscience flares up, Eiza decides to do what’s right and lose Garrison on RTS (the evil corporation) so he can free himself and finally live an unplanned life.
The concept reads like a mix of memory wipe movies with evil assassin movies. The film takes a full forty-five minutes just to get up to speed so that it can take off and actually engage in the real dramatic tension. We open on Garrison saving a hostage then losing his wife. We follow his entire journey to assassinate his wife’s killer, a full thirty-minute routine before we find out his memories are being altered (something the marketing for this movie has quite clearly given away) so the first thirty minutes are a wash.
My biggest gripe with this film aims directly at the edit. Not only are the action sequences laden with CGI enough that a casual observer can notice it, but the fights are cut together so quickly it’s impossible to feel rooted in them. We watch goons shoot Diesel to bits but there’s just no tension in it. Yes, they set up fun and interesting set pieces (like a tunnel with flour all over the floor) and then never visually deliver on something exciting to watch. It’s frustrating, especially when the stunt team clearly choreographed an impressive fight scene. It cuts every five-tenths of a second and truly nauseated me. The few bits that aren’t stunts are just pure CGI effects. Diesel’s battle against other enhanced humans feels fake since we’re seeing a computer-generated bald head tackle robot arms. Arguably the big boss fight of the movie and it’s emotionless, cut too quickly, and devoid of any sense of triumph.
Ignoring all these little quirks though the movie has one fatal flaw: its premise. The movie robs the audience of emotional investment when they take away Diesel’s wife. No, she’s not dead. Apparently, they separated amicably five years earlier. While they make an effort to refocus the film on Diesel’s desire to escape (and Eiza González’s guilt) it never truly sticks the landing. Ultimately, we don’t know why Diesel wants to kill Guy Pearce. There’s little impetus or emotional attachment for us and so we just continue to shrug.
I applaud the talent in this movie making the most of it. Eiza González pulls acting teeth from Diesel while Guy Pearce chews up expository dialogue and spits out hard emotions. In fact, some of the best characters are all of the ancillary ones. Sam Heughan lurks menacingly as the final boss. Siddhartha Dhananjay steals scenes right out from under Guy Pearce’s nose. Lamorne Morries practically steals the entire movie from Diesel and González who both brood their way from beginning to end. Hell, even Toby Kebbell looks like he’s having the time of his life making this film. This movie may be a great calling card for all the second-tier talent as it allows them to stretch their wings a bit although I cannot imagine paying to see this on Pay-Per-View. I’m glad I saw it for free. I might watch this on an airplane or put it on in the background while I’m cooking dinner, alone, so I can tune in from time to time. Just enough to catch some fighting, but not enough to really understand what’s going on.
Available on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD May 5th
