Incontrol

I have mixed feelings after watching Incontrol. The good points were that the story is innovative and the actors were'nt bad. But unfortunately even if the story was innovative it clearly missed the chance to bring a good sci-fi movie. It's a missed opportunity because it could have been much more interesting if developped better. Now you just get a mediocre story, that quickly becomes boring to watch, while the potential to have an intriguing story was there. I didn't get the end at all. Maybe it was open for interpretation but at that point I was already bored with this movie and so I couldn't care less. But I would watch another movie with the same concept if only the story was better.

I came across this film advertised as a cross between 'Looper" and Inception. I also saw its rating, and despite being on the low side, both these films are my cup of tea so gave it a go.

And do you know what. I really enjoyed it. The premise was interesting, the acting definately above average and it was a well made film So why does this not hit the mark whilst Inception and Looper did? Both these films had closure, as simple as that. Despite their budget, I thought this film was potentially up there. But for me this felt like it was only the first third of a very good film. I was watching it, wondering where it was going next in the middle part of the film and then boom.... It's all over. Questions which were just about being asked received no answer whatsoever. Such a shame. Who? Why? What? Still don't know. I would love this to be the beginning of a trilogy personally but because of a twist at the end, I can't see this being the case.

In control had potential to be an interesting film. The premise of migrating your mind to another's body is a well tested concept, but in controls rendition of this wasn't too cliché.

Unfortunately the film went nowhere, there was no suspense, excitement or intrigue - well...there was intrigue but this relates more to the feeling of watching the last 10 minutes in bemusement thinking "cmon! Just explain...SOMETHING!?"

The music was very tedious...stylistically you can see what they were aiming at: a fugue like state. But the music ended up just slowing the film down...the plot is slow enough already. A well composed score would have really helped this film realise its considerable potential, emphasising the "post modern" dream state. If they had achieved this sylistic concept more successfully - in score as well as every other element of the film - it may not have mattered that there was woefully written dialogue, cheap cinematography, no real character development and a very lazy plot.

Despite all this I actually enjoyed it in a funny way. As a technical exercise in film making, however, it did not succeed; and as an exercise in "feels" it didn't do too well either, watching it was basically a pleasant way to pass time!

I have to say up front that the basic theme of the film - being able to experience existence in any other physical state than being in one's own body - is of great personal interest to me, both personally and, at one point, professionally.

So, the filmmakers were at a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage, with respect to me.

That said: from an objective view, they did pretty well with what one can assume of their budget, and the script largely worked with the concept of exploring the meaning of the self alongside the potential trappings brought by the ability to manipulate the reality of that self.

Again, in context of what the cast and crew had to work with, the acting is above b-movie mediocre, albeit not so much as to distract from the obvious and expected dropped lines or unrealized punch points in the script.

Speaking of which, the script laid out a scenario with great potential only to get too bogged down in minutiae and unnecessary dialogue.

I still go back to the ambition and creativity of the premise - body-swapping-type stories have been done many times, but this falls outside the norm due to the psycho-physical interaction and heavier philosophical questions that ensue. This isn't low-budget Face-Off or another failed attempt at the ideas behind Transcendence. These guys went for the gold.

They didn't hit gold due to budget, but at least they tried.

A worthy watch for any sci-fi or sci-leaning fantasy fan. A solid 6 rating - that rating meaning at least 60% of all I've ever seen were lesser than this in some way.

Then again, that's out of at least 10k, so you do the math.

It felt like an unfinished film, so much of it wasn't explained. Despite that I enjoyed it and thought the idea behind it was good