Review of Predestination (2013) by Brodie P — 25 Mar 2015

Under-the-radar, concept-driven science fiction with a heavy dose of suspense. Ethan Hawke plays a decade-leaping "temporal agent," dedicated to stopping the spree of a mysterious mass bomber who wipes out several blocks of New York City in the late 20th century.

Along the way, he randomly stops by a bar in 1978 where he settles in to share stories with a down-on-his-luck patron and the plot seems to derail. It's strange, confusing pacing that sets aside the core concept in lieu of a very long, seemingly-unrelated aside, but naturally there's more here than meets the eye.

That digression is an intriguing one, albeit in a completely different vein than the advertised premise, and tucks neatly into the endgame during the film's chaotic, full-throttle closing act. Fans of Total Recall and Inception will find themselves mesmerized by the percussive power of its late plot twists, even if they are made a hair less ambiguous than I think was really necessary.

These are some pretty big swings, and they'll probably turn off a good portion of the audience, but I enjoy that kind of risk-taking and it feels like they transform what had been a mediocre also-ran into something much closer to the remarkable.

Flawed but daring, those last ten minutes are a helluva rush.