Review of Source Code (2011) by Dz9 — 29 Jul 2011

Going into this movie, and hearing how the mechanics of the Source Code was suppose to work. I turned off my brain and went along with the lore, which I know you must do in most science fiction movies.

I could go on and gripe about the idiotic science that the directors has spat into the faces of the American people. I realize that through this science, Jake Gylenhaal's character should not have been able to do the things he did.

... but honestly, I just grinded my teeth together and took the movie for what it was and nothing more and tried to have fun. Actually...I did, this movie was VERY entertaining, it kept you on the edge of your seat with the suspense that the movie had built, great character development, and great characters in general, and acting was excellent.

Don't get me wrong, in the back of my mind, I knew that the science they had presented was contradicting and was nonsense, but I was actually having an VERY good time with this movie. So why such a low score??? The movie done something extremely unforgivable, the ending had ruined it.

The movie had drilled into the viewers mind a simple rule, and it was that the Source Code was just an 8 minute relay that Gyllenhaal's character was going through, and guess what happens at the end??.

..HE GOES BEYOND THE 8 MINUTES. Don't get me wrong, if the movie had set this plot hole up to be plausible, it would have been alright. For example: imagine if you are watching a movie and it had simply said "the sky can not be red," and then for no reason whatsoever, the sky turns red at the end of the movie.

Source Code gave the excuse that "well no one really understood the source code," there was another problem with that, Gyllenhaal's character died, so he should not have been able to live in the Source Code because he was not alive in reality.

And that's not the only thing that was wrong with the ending, it also seemed forced, it seemed like the writers just wanted to have a "feel good" ending which was completely unnecessary. The scene where the time in the source code had paused, Gyllenhaal's character is kissing Monaghan's character, and everyone is happy.

..the screen should have just turned off then and it would have been a perfect ending. It's too bad too, I saw the movie in theatres and I was absolutely "in" on these characters, but the ending shattered the whole movie.

The Good: Great cast and characters, great action. The Bad: Contradicting story, strong unnecessary undertones, and an absolutely awful ending. To give an example of how much the ending shattered the movie, if it would have ended more sensible, I would give this movie a 9, but how it stands.

... this movie is good for the brainless but awful for anybody with standards for what they call art.