Source Code

Sci-fi how it should be

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“What a movie. The price is worth paying. This movie gets straight to the point. You know you see a lot of movies that waste so much time getting into a story. Not this film, virtually from the off, we are there, in the film. It's like there is no beginning, but middle and an end. Obviously you guys know the storyline so I'll not waste time telling you what it is about, just go and see it. It is a film that keeps you looking, you actually feel like you are 'in the source code' which is fantastic. The only downside to this film is that it feels short, it was 93 minutes but it simply flies by. Maybe that is a good thing? Shows how good this film was! GO CHECK IT OUT!”

The running time is a good thing, it’s sci-fi subject matter may ask to many questions of the viewer but the movie moves at a great pace keeping you on tenterhooks and your attention on the pressing matter of the train blowing up.

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“This movie shamelessly uses computer science (specifically computer programming) jargon (about 5-10 terms, like "specification", "drivers", "Source Code", etc) for a completely different purpose. For the kind of arrogant bullshit this movie presents (which is NOT science fiction, it's the new genre: bullshit fiction) it should be banned for reasons of subculture and attacking the sanctity of computer science, the most advanced and helpfull science we've got, the pinacle of civilization. The dialog is complete bs, not just because of the misused jargon, but mainly because it tries hard to be militaristic and "sf" (trust me, it's actually bullshit fiction).”

Labelling this film “Bullshit” and the filmmakers arrogant is as unfounded as claiming this person understands the reason a film is Science Fiction. I bet this person hates Star Wars because it’s to ‘far fetched’.

What I thought:
The real highlight of Source Code is the ever growing ability of Duncan Jones, a man who along with Neil Blomkamp (District 9) and Gareth Edwards (Monsters) have shown us just how cool and thought provoking Sci fi can and should be! His Moon was an excellent example of this cranium cranking science fiction that has been sorely missed from the genre. Source Code is what this man can do for a big Studio and thankfully it does not disappoint.

Our hero is Coulter Stevens, an American Pilot unwittingly part of a military operation called “Source Code”. The idea is to be transported into the last few minutes of someone’s memory, in this environment to be used to stop a Terrorist attack. He re lives the last 8 mins of a man on a train set to blow; his mission is to find the bomber. A fairly simple premise but completely chock full of ideas and moments for intense discussion.

That discussion could possibly spoil the film as the hater review may have pointed out for you, it’s full of scientific ideas that you can’t really get your head around but then that can be said for a lot of Sci-fi. This is where the running time and the pace comes brilliantly into place, moving the film along fast enough for you to keep your questions at the back of your mind. Really all your interested in is, who is it? How does he do it? How it’ll end? Source Code is a tight tense thriller with breathing space for a little romance, comedy and a little action thrown in for good measure.

On DVD and Blu-Ray: 15th August
Running Time: 93 mins
Certificate: 12