Réminiscence

I didn't think Reminiscence was a bad movie, certainly not like some other reviewers tried to portray it. The story was sometimes a bit difficult to follow, simplicity sometimes just works better, but at one point it all made sense, you just have to be patient. The acting could have been better, certainly with that cast, but again it wasn't all that bad either. My wife and I did enjoy this sci-fi thriller so no complaining here. Could it have been better? For sure, but that's the case with almost everything so just take a chill pill and try to enjoy a movie with its flaws.

The reviews are so overwhelmingly negative that I almost feel a moral obligation to come to the defense of this movie.

It is not a prefect effort, and perhaps it could have been better. But it is solid work for what it is. A great deal of thought, talent, and craftsmanship went into making this film, and it shows. The story was engaging. Honestly, I was bracing for boredom and found myself somewhat riveted once the story got going after the first 10 minutes or so. Parts of this movie were quite beautiful in design as well as narrative.

Without giving too much away, the story somewhat mirrors Vertigo, but within a film noir format. Perhaps it could have been better if the narrative was more realistic and gritty vs. Artistic and noir-ish - but who knows?

Lisa Joy ought to be commended for an intriguing story, meticulous and nuanced direction, and good pacing that causes neither confusion nor boredom - two ailments that many modern movies suffer from.

This isn't an action or superhero flick. You've got to pay attention and have your thinking hat on. If that's not your idea of entertainment, then take a pass. It is very respectable work. Enjoy it.

It's an interesting concept, set in an interesting world of sci fi and film noir.

Unfortunately it dosn't work as well as it should, or is it as smart as it wants to be.

It's not without some great scenes, or without a great cast and characters. Some of the characters are great but feel badly drawn. Full respect to Cliff Curtis. He stands out. ( an oddly unappreciated actor )

It's a tragedy, but only if you manage to watch it to the end.

I'm not going to discuss the movie at length, others will do that definitely, I'll just say that I left the theater feeling absolutely nothing.

I was not attached to any of the characters during any part of the movie, with such great cast and Lisa Joy at the helm it's hard to miss the point, but I think Reminiscence has missed it.

The story wants to be on one side of a disbanded/chaotic near future, and on another side a heavily policed and rule abiding citizens kind of future.

The cast is awesome, but there's absolutely no chemistry between them, I honestly feel like Hugh had more charisma and chemistry playing that teacher that was convicted for embezzlement.

And every other moral or lesson falls totally flat because of this weird world Lisa Joy has built and the lack of chemistry between the cast and the view with the cast.

It's a bit tragic to see something like this go to waste.

Good performances? Check. Good cinematography? Check. Creative visual effects? Check. Intriguing concept and interesting introductory world building? Check.

A boring, generic corporate corruption plot? Check. Not knowing what the actual central conflict of the film is until about 90 minutes in? Check. Underdeveloped character relationships that completely cause the audience to not understand or care why our lead character is so hell-bent on doing the things he does? Check. Not including any plot or character elements that relate to the weird semi-apocalyptic setting of the movie, rendering it utterly pointless? Check.

Lisa Joy thought her TV skills would transfer to film. They don't. It's a different method of storytelling, and her episodic techniques used here are so frustrating and boring to watch in a feature film.

This should've been an HBO mini-series.