Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: A man discovers that his hallucinations are actually visions from past lives.
Review: What if reincarnation is real? What if instead of a clean slate or the odd moments of déjà vu here and there, you instead could remember everything you’ve ever learned. Every skill, every language, every place you’ve ever lived or visited? Then technically, you would be a god, or at the very least the closest thing to a superhero in real life. And this is basically the basis of the very fun, fast and furious (please don’t sue me Vin) Infinite.
Man I miss the Funky Bunch
People talk all the time about switching off your brain and just enjoying these types of over-the-top action movies, because they’re not supposed to be smart or thoughtful. What I enjoyed first and foremost about Infinite is as over-the-top action movies go, this one is pretty thought-provoking. What if I had lived a thousand lives and have the advantage of lifetimes worth of knowledge? What kind of person would I be?
In this world Evan McCauley, played by Mark Wahlberg (Ted, The Departed, and the two worst Transformers films) has been diagnosed as schizophrenic. He thinks his thoughts are delusions but after a wrong place, wrong time encounter lands him in trouble he ends up on the radar of a man called Bathurst (Chiwetel Ejiofor of Doctor Strange, The Old Guard) who leads a group who call themselves the Nihilists. And considering their moniker it should be fairly obvious he wants to end all life on earth (and in doing so stop reincarnation from ever taking place). With the help of others like himself (Infinites) Evan has to locate a world-ending device that he stole from Bathurst in a previous life and it’s a race between the two factions to achieve their desired end goals.
Shouldn’t that be red? Or blue?
It is directed by Antione Fuqua, a man who is no stranger to shooting intense, heart-stopping action with films like The Equalizer, Shooter and The Magnificent Seven 2016 remake under his belt. With Infinite Sci fi and fantasy elements blend together beautifully, and the locations, gadgets and CGI work to build a world that feels like it jumps straight of the pages of your favourite comic book. The characters are a mix of what you would expect to find in a movie like this, which can be both good and bad.
On one hand we have Chiwetel Ejiofor proving once again why he’s an award-winning actor. His villainous turn here makes me doubly excited to see him return as Mordo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We also have another Marvel alum in our midst with Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier) in a much smaller, but still impactful, role as Porter, one of the Infinites. One of my favourite scenes in this movie takes place between these two and it’s not even an action scene. That’s how good they are. The rest of the players are entertaining, but, as to be expected in a movie such as this, they don’t really have much to do, other than look badass. Which brings me to Marky Mark.
Come on. Everybody loves The Happening
So here’s the thing. I have nothing against Mark Wahlberg as an actor. He’s actually put out some really memorable performances in movies like Boogie Nights and The Departed. Generally speaking though, he tends to fall back into his comfort zone of being buff and looking cool, but also confused and or angry, at any given time. Sadly (and feel free to disagree with me on this one) I felt like they could’ve gone with someone else as the lead here as Wahlberg is the least impressionable one in the movie!
Mild Spoiler Ahead. So in his previous life, Evan McCauley is portrayed by actor Dylan O’Brien, a young man who leaves me more and more impressed, every time I’ve seen him on screen (The Maze Runner Trilogy, American Assassin, Love and Monsters). The character is then resurrected as Mark Wahlberg. Well Wahlberg might be the bigger box office draw, but in this viewer’s humble opinion, they should have switched it and made Dylan O’Brien take the wheel. Mark feels like “generic action guy” here while Dylan leaves a helluva an impression in that amazing opening scene. And I think he would’ve nailed the landing had he been the one to take us home.
She’s a bad mama jama…
The movie also loses some of its charm in the final act as it start to feel less smart and more “by the numbers”. But as a whole Infinite is a smart action flick that asks an interesting question about life, immortality and whether it would be worth it or not to be able to do it all over and over and over again.
Also, like Netflix’s Altered Carbon (which also does cool things with the concept of reincarnation), we could easily get someone else in the lead role.
So…did someone say sequel?
Sommer’s Score: 6.5 out of 10
For more of my thoughts on the film you can check out my video review below:
And you can check out more great Sci Fi Action articles below:
Groundhog Day Meets Video Games Flick ‘Boss Level’ is a Fun Action Extravaganza
Netflix’s ‘Outside the Wire’ is a Solid Sci Fi War Drama
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
Double Tap Baby!