XChange

X Change is pretty standard B grade cable TV sci fi but the mostly gratuitous sex scenes make a point of showing bare breasts in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Oh and there are some thoughtful ideas in the story as well.

XChange's jumping-off point involves an extremely clever way to travel - you switch into someone else's body, and they switch into yours; that way you can attend that all-important meeting in San Francisco without never actually leaving New York. Smart, huh. But with new technology comes new evil-doers - body terrorists, who 'float' from one body to another, wreaking havoc along the way. This is an endlessly creative flick that never gets boring, with another great performance from Kyle MacLachlan to boot. See it in any state of your choosing.

In the near future, corporate customers can save time on air travel by jumping into other bodies for short periods of time. Despite being unwilling, Toffler jumps into a body in order to attend a meeting in San Francisco. However, when it comes to returning to his old body he is told that his body has been stolen by the terrorist who had been in the body he jumped into. Toffler jumps into a clone in order to escape and, with a temporary body decomposing over 54 hours, he sets out to find Fisk and reclaim his body.

In the near future, body switching is possible for the rich, id badges tell everyone who you are, High Fidelity is playing at the cinema, but yet nobody has ever seen the film Face/Off. Yes - this is the future as seen in a low budget movie. Alarm bells rang for me when the credits revealed that this was, yes, a film who's main cast were Baldwin, MacLachlan and Coates! Happily though, it wasn't actually that bad, just rather unexciting and uninspiring. The plot has promise but it doesn't deliver it well enough. Face/Off had the same basic plot but it moved much quicker and slicker than this. The problem is that the plot feels too baggy and ill thought out with too much that isn't fully expanded on. This wouldn't be a major problem if the film moved slickly and with a lot of energy.

Sadly, it doesn't. The film has the odd exciting moment but generally it lacks tension and is a bit too slow and talky. Three times the film falls back on needless sex scenes in an attempt to give the audience what it came for. The conclusion of the film is obvious and, for that reason, lacks punch. It's a shame because, even with a low budget and less-than-perfect effects, the film could still have been exciting if the director had done a better job with the pacing of the film; as it is he delivers it too slowly.

The good ideas flicker up along the way - the best being near the end as Toffler's disregard for his cloned body becomes useful, but generally it is quite lacklustre. Even though the cast suggested worse, they were actually reasonably good. Coates is always watchable and, don't worry, after a brief spell as the good buy he soon changes to the bad guy role. MacLachlan seems to have taken the role just as a cameo and a chance to have a sex scene. Baldwin is slumming and it shows a bit too often. He is OK for the film but he didn't have that much in the way of charisma; sure he played more than one character, but he still wasn't all that hot.

Overall this is not as bad a film as I have maybe put across here. If you have rented it as a cheapy video or are watching it on a low rent cable station, then you probably know what's in store. As such, it works OK but it is still hard to overlook a plot that could have been tighter and a film that really needed a lot more in the way of tension and excitement to keep it going. Worth watching if you're in the mood.

I thought Kyle McLachlin was a great bad guy. The atmosphere was wonderful and the music quite good. It was a world fully realized and the way the characters crept through the plot was well drawn. I'd see it again if it were replayed.

I'm usually not into Sci-Fi, but I like a good thriller. This movie is both - and at the same time none of the above. I think the story would benefit if it was set in a twisted present instead of the "not so distant future". The movie makers haven't put enough effort into making you believe this is the future. That said, the story has a faint touch of Orwell (author of the unreal and brilliant novel "1984", written in 1948, from which the expression "Big Brother" originate).

The main idea of body switching opens up so many fascinating possibilities, and the movie barely scratches the surface. It leaves you thinking "what if..."

The story isn't the best written one in the world, in fact it's rather thin at times. The acting is average with a few exceptions. The presentation isn't in any way high tech or extremely impressive. Still I think it was a good movie. It's the story beyond the movie that makes it great for me.

Definitely worthwhile, if you like a weird story.