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Self/less - Review: Body Swap Flop


Self/less - Review: Body Swap Flop
4 out of 10

Who wants to live forever? Quite a few of us it turns out, especially if you’re rich and dumb enough to try it. Since the 1970's, people faced with their final curtain have been having their bodies cryogenically frozen in the hope of receiving a future encore when death is more of an inconvenience than certainty. Some even take a cut price option of freezing just their head, presumably for end game out straight out of Futurama. Life beyond death is a long explored topic in the world of science fiction, and while reality hasn’t exactly caught with its fictional cousin, they do agree one thing: It comes at a cost. In this new action sci-fi film from the studios behind Looper, one man finds the price of his new life is far bigger than he could possibly imagine.

Aging construction tycoon Damien Hayes (Ben Kinsley – Gandhi, Exodus Gods & Kings) is losing the fight against cancer. An encounter with a mysterious scientific facility and scientist Albright (Matthew Goode – Watchmen, The Imitation Game) results in his mind being transferred into a younger lab grown body (Ryan Reynolds – Van Wilder, Woman In Gold). However, when peculiar memories start relapsing, he quickly learns his body is not as “new” as advertised.

What we have here feels more like a personal take on Michael Bay’s The Island (less explosions, more meaningful gazing into the mirror). The core idea is still there: that an evil science organization is secretly using and killing real people to provide their life enhancing services. Hale’s new body was a real person (Mark Hale) with a family, and the film centers on the emotional journey of encounter with his body’s old family and how they both deal with the consequences of Hayes’s “shedding”/body swapping decision. The key point is this: At many points, Self/less could really have used Michael Bay's style to liven things up because it’s painfully too slow. There are plenty of good ideas in play, like Hale having to choose between his new life or his Mark’s old, but it just takes too long to get anywhere. Many scenes and sections feel needlessly drawn out. The single biggest plot hindrance is Mark’s young daughter, Anna. Once she enters the story, it prevents Damien/Mark and Mark’s wife Matty talking through the narrative efficiently as they can’t discuss such complications in front of her. What’s more the infrequent action elements, save one impressive car stunt, don’t really add anything to proceedings. Reynolds gets his fist and gun fight on at a number of occasions and while he handles himself fine it still feels tame from what we’re used to expecting of him. If these faster paced sections were more effective the films pacing would greatly be improved but result is they don’t feel a satisfying reward for audience patience. It’s less money shots and more loose change.

There’s a clear sense here that the film is trying to replicate Looper’s success (this film was quickly put into production in 2012 after Looper became a hit) but it just can’t clone the tone of balancing deeper issues and morality with lighter entertainment. Self/less has both ingredients but can’t mix them. An early section sees the newly reborn Hale enjoying a young retirement of mass partying and casual sex. This allows Reynolds to incorporate his comedic strengths with age-based, fish-out-of-water humor, like being out of touch modern trends and pop culture. The vibrancy of the New Orleans setting is also well utilized. Yet as soon as the more serious arc kicks in, these lighter elements die on the spot with no hope of returning, making the prior mentioned “living it up” section feel completely out of place and even shallow by comparison. The ensuing family drama has its merits a couple quite powerful moments from Natalie Martinez (Death Race, Under the Dome) as Matty in dealing with the re-appearance of her dead husband and how she’ll explain things to Anna when he disappears again. Although even when this theme works, there’s still the feeling that it’s a substitute for skimming over the heavier issues that we’d expect the film to cover. Most of it is entertaining enough, but when it attempts to be serious it veers more towards silly in just how organized and militarized this warehouse science organization quickly becomes. The subplot over Hayes estranged daughter Claire (all two and a bit scenes of it) is too underdeveloped to carry the emotional impact it wants to but most importantly the opening pre-op section does too little to endear us to Kingsley’s character. Yes, he’s dying but there’s painfully little to like about him or enough established mannerisms to make us see him through Reynolds performance.

Reynolds does his best to hold things together as a lead and, to his credit, is much better than the given material. Fans of his lighter/comedic films may not be amused but those that enjoy his dramatic work will find some enjoyment. Kingsley is less of a part and more a plot tool so it’s unfair to judge him on performance. Goode initially does well as the cold and clinical scientist but struggles as he develops into the villain. He doesn’t come across as ruthless as his actions would imply, turning him into a poor shadow of his Ozymandias. Derek Luke (Friday Night Lights, Baggage Claim) makes a fair comedic addition as Anton but also struggles to convince when his character develops.

So while Self/less isn’t entirely worthless, it is largely a tired retreading of many a sci-fi film & TV show past. Nothing about it feels original or even a modern/updated take on the idea of body-swapping. When released the same week as the immensely fun Ant-Man, it can only be seen as a last result alternative. Ultimately, nobody gets to live forever so life’s too short to bother with films like Self/less.

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