Awareness

Awareness is a great idea and starts with a brilliant premises but diminishes as it unfolds. The story starts with a young boy protected by a father figure barely making it and stealing alcohol of all things. The father figure ultimately is drunk who they attempt to make us feel compassion for but did little to earn the title an actual father figure.

The most frustrating part of this movie is its potential, such a great idea wasted. The main character, Ian, we learn has an ability to alter perception and it attempting to evade an organization which is tracking him for this gift. Initially you have compassion for Ian but ultimately I found myself giving up on him as he comes across as a spoiled brat.

This is a movie of potential but ends with making bad choices and asking yourself, what was the point of the story? Seem the bad guys triumphed and the idiot kid who can project ideas into others was duped.

The concept is interesting, but the execution is confusing. It really comes down to whom do you root for? During WWII, there was a secret program to create people who could make other people see things that are not there, and also control them. After the war, those people were no longer needed, so there was an extermination campaign, but some escaped. So there seems to be two sides, but neither side seems totally good nor totally bad and who is really right? We meet early on Ian and his father. Ian can make people see things that are not there, so that is ideal to pull off petty crimes to get things without getting caught. And Ian's father wants to keep things low level, as he knows there are those hunting for Ian, so don't draw attention. But Ian wants to live a normal life, and soon gets discovered. So both sides are after him. There are some well choreographed fight scenes, some with a high body count. But things get confusing, who do you trust, and besides, few of the characters are difficult to care about. And that is the real flaw.

This Spanish-American science-fiction action flick owes a lot to Stephen King's book Firestarter, with its shadowy government agency creating people with psychic powers, but it also has elements of Inception, Scanners, The Fury and The Matrix to flesh things out, so yeah, this isn't the most original movie out there but the script constantly keeps you guessing as it layers double-crosses on top of alternate realities and implanted memories so that it hardly matters what's actually going on, it's just a lot of fun.

Overall, Daniel Benmayor's Awareness is a frenetically fun espionage thriller with science fiction trappings and some really well-choreographed action sequences that make this film an easy one to recommend.

It's been a while since I've been blown-away from a Sci-fi movie, esp a foreign one, on a streaming platform, that I just randomly picked. This has Jumper qualities that should've been a big Hollywood release as well because it is so much better! So I'm sure since that wasn't the case it was a bit shorter than what it could've been and left unanswered plot hole questions but i would assume too that was in order to leave plenty of room for a sequel and/or even a trilogy which i sure hope happens! It may seem a bit slow at first but once it gets going it doesn't stop. The twists & turns are great!!! I was left guessing who was what and to whom until the very end all while enjoying The Matrix like action. I'm glad Amazon Studios picked it up and can support the other 2 sequels esp since it seems like we are not getting a 2nd season of The Peripheral due to the strikes which is sad but this movie also had similar suspense to that show as well. This movie is one that should eventually be placed on a Top 20 list for sure.

I understand that people have different preferences and standards for quality, but it's important to consider the kind of expectations you have when watching a movie.

This film offers a decent experience with a script that includes some unexpected twists, but it might not live up to everyone's standards. The production values are good, with nice effects and direction. The lead actor does a fine job, contributing to a narrative that's engaging enough for a casual watch. It's important to set appropriate expectations; if you're hoping for a groundbreaking sci-fi epic, this might not be it. Overall, it's a fair movie, worthy of about a 6.5/10. It won't blow you away, but it's a reasonable choice for a relaxed movie night.