Renaissances

This IMDb synopsis is accurate and a good starting point: Billionaire Damian Hale has terminal cancer. He turns to a radical medical procedure called "shedding," in which his consciousness is transferred to a healthy body. After the procedure, Damian, now called Edward, starts a new life in New Orleans but is plagued by disturbing images. When he delves into Edward's mysterious origin, he learns that some will kill to keep it secret.

My buddy and I, both long time film buffs of multi-genres yearn for decent sci-fi thrillers that are well written and directed, leave us guessing here and there via plot twists and turns, includes necessary action, murder and mayhem and a credible Mr. Evil. This film delivers 116 minutes of story, acting, production value and pure cinema sci-fi thrilling FUN.

We were both thumbs-up entertained by one of Ryan Reynolds best efforts plus a fine supporting cast including Mr. Evil (Albright). Our usual post film discussion of plot holes was minimal given the original, well crafted screenplay. That is not to say we did not suspend belief as is the case with many of our best action/Sci-Fi films. A major section of the film, with some of its best action sequences, reminded me of my favorite scenes in Bourne Legacy.

With all the above said there was yet room for disturbed, romantic relationships and one cute kid spitting out all her needed lines.

Production value gives us some fun shots of New Orleans, area mansions and a finale 'home' in a spectacular locale.

There have been so many mind invasion/transfer films that our expectations for something original with thrills, excitement and pathos were low. We left the theater smiling for the simple reason that we were both thoroughly entertained.

In recent times it seems like a sci fi thriller is a tricky movie to master, and whilst I don't pretend that Self/less mastered it, it's a very watchable and enjoyable movie.

'Billionaire Damian, a man responsible for enormous business deals, a big figure with the ability to buy whatever he wants, but not the thing he needs, a cure for cancer.

I really did enjoy this movie, the concept was a good one, it was a clever plot. There were enough surprises and plenty of intrigue to keep you wondering.

If I had one little niggle, it's that for me after the transformation to Reynolds it felt like a different film, it didn't feel seamless, maybe that was intentional, I felt they could have delved into the transition a little deeper, it seemed to happen to quickly.

Lots of action scenes, really well directed, the effects were great too. I wish Google searches worked so quickly for me, Pumpkin Towers (All I'm saying. 11,300,000 results,) my he was lucky.

Brilliantly acted, Kinglsey naturally has gravitas, he's so watchable. Ryan Reynolds was excellent I thought, I really enjoyed his performance, Matthew Goode I thought was outstanding, managing to be sinister without overplaying it. I love Michelle Dockery, but she was a little underused, just a bit part.

8/10 Very watchable, surprisingly so.

There are certain things that men (or women for that case) should not mess with. As in what nature is giving or taking away from us. The movie might make a case of that, if you want to look at it that way. It's Science Fiction alright, but it does have a moral core in it, that you'll either like or dismiss.

Whatever the case, I'm sure many like the general idea of the movie, and because it is a "secret", this could actually be going on right now. But whatever you believe (or not), this will challenge some of your views, for better or worse. It might be very easy to see where this is going, but it's still a ride worth taking (especially if you're fond of the genre)

'SELF/LESS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A sci-fi thriller/action flick starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley. The story revolves around a dying businessman who has his consciousness transferred into the body of a younger, and much healthier, man. It was directed by Tarsem Singh (the man also responsible for the popular 2000 horror flick 'THE CELL') and written by David and Àlex Pastor. The movie also stars Matthew Goode, Natalie Martinez, Derek Luke and Victor Garber. The filmmakers do very little with their interesting ideas; but they do deliver a fun, and stylistically thrilling, action flick.

Kingsley plays Damian, a wealthy, and very successful, businessman; who's dying from cancer. A secret, groundbreaking, science organization offers to give him a new body; to extend his life. After going through with the procedure Damian is thrilled with his newfound youth, and very physically fit body, but he quickly learns that his happiness came at the expense of someone else's (the man who's body he took). Damian feels extremely guilty for taking another man's life from him, and he wants to set things right. The special organization will stop at nothing though, to protect their business.

The movie starts out as a pretty intriguing science-fiction thriller; similar movies have been done before but it did seem somewhat fresh and unique. It doesn't really develop into much though, as it prefers to entertain it's audience with stylistically cool action scenes; instead of story and character development. Singh is a very visually satisfying director to watch though, and I really like the dark style and mood of this movie. It's hard to give it credit for a lot more than that; but it is an entertaining, and somewhat thrilling, action flick.

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This film is full of underdeveloped ideas and concepts. It's starts off somewhat promising, but along the way it just transforms into Schwarzeneggers The 6th Day re-make (which wasn't great in the first place) with flamethrowers.

First of all, the film looks like it's set in present time, but it handles consciousness transfer as nothing mind-blowing or groundbreaking. Just imagine what can be achieved when you can imprint any human being inside another one. Some great and dangerous ideas are here. But no, the film uses this very poorly. They should've set this far into the future to make it something ordinary or take it more seriously if it was set in modern times.

Second, we don't get nearly enough old Kingsley character to understand his motivations. He's all over the place. He takes the transfer easily and starts enjoying life which he didn't seem to enjoy in the first place as much. They give you a couple of hints that he still feels young at heart, but it all falls down to picking beautiful women in clubs and having sex in his luxury apartments. This would've made the dilemma much stronger, the choice between retaining his young body and returning a father into the family.

Third, the ending was way too obvious and was super easy to achieve. Damien just gave it up like it mattered nothing to him. He is not nearly believable as a property mogul. There is no transition in him from a selfish person and the self-sacrifice makes no sense. His motivations overall just make no sense. He's way too caring for a random person when it is clearly not his character. I mean, there is so much you can do with this concept. Just make him suffer, try to go to his daughter and reconnect, make her reject his younger version.

Forth, the main "villain's" motivation also makes no sense. He looks like a smart person at first, but as the story progresses he just becomes a money-obsessed crook, and in the end for a minute he spits out childish philosophy.

I mean, I wanted to see the film only for the concept of immortality and it's price, but instead I got lots of pointless action scenes The 6th Day's style.

Also, the main female lead's voice was annoying, sorry.

Maybe I expected too much from Tarsem.

P.S. I love how he was able to put more pointless "weird imagery" in this like he did in the Cage, oh, Tarsem.