Paycheck Review

I saw Paycheck tonight with my girlfriend. For those of you who are unaware, it's John Woo (Face/Off, M:I-2)'s latest tour de force sci-fi action flick. But it's just just John's usual shoot-em up, this is a film based on a short story by Philip K. Dick--a writer who I greatly admire. Alot of people were insisting that this movie was awful because of Ben Affleck. So I figured I would see it and give my report.

First off, let's talk about Affleck. Ben Affleck is a decent actor, if I may say. He is certainly not the best thing since Welles, Heston or Connery, but I think he can hold his own providing the role is correct. I find that his best stuff is either in action films or Kevin Smith movies. Ben's got the face of a hero, a man yelling in order to save the day, and a man who isn't afraid to get blonde tipped hair if the role calls for it. He was actually very good in Daredevil, Sum of All Fears, and Paycheck. Then there is his other set of movies, namely the Kevin Smith ones. He got his start with Mallrats, proved himself to me with the sublime Chasing Amy, carried one of my favorite movies (Dogma), and played two different characters in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. He is a funny actor when the material is right. Him being best friends with Smith also helps. He really sucks as an actor when it comes to sappy films. For example, Pearl Harbor blew, Forces of Nature was crap, and Gigli... well, I don't need to say anything. It's my theory that Affleck is only bad when the material is bad, or when his character is not an action hero or straight-man-Smith-puppet.

So that said, he was very good in Paycheck.

I was actually extremely interested in Paycheck because it was originally a short story by Philip K. Dick. Dick is an amazing science fiction writer who died in 1982. I find it interesting that only after his death did a slew of his most excellent stories get made into film. He is more popular now than he ever was when he was alive. Bladerunner was the first film that I had ever seen involving this man. It was based off of his book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep?" and starred Harrison Ford as a detective assigned to destinguish androids from humans. The movie was groundbreaking, especially for director Ridley Scott, who created some visuals and effects that were years beyond their time. The second movie of his that I thoroughly enjoyed was Minority Report. I'm sure that most of you have heard about this film, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Stephen Spielberg. The movie was an excellent sci-fi thriller with a twisting plot. So then here comes Paycheck. Paycheck's plot actually resembles Minority Report's a slight bit, but you never know what's going to happen next in this wonderfully penned thriller.

So enough about the story and the acting, which were both top notch. On to the directing. John Woo is a master of the action genre, pioneering filmmaking with such action classics as The Killer and Face/Off. But it seems to me that he has been losing his touch ever since Windtalkers (his attempt at a WWII action-drama). Paycheck is a big step to where he once was, but it's not perfect. For one, Woo didn't design his future very well. It's a weird mix of present day technology, like Apple Studio Display Monitors and 2003 Ford Crown Victorias, with some odd future, like memory-scanning machines and 3D projection computer screens. They never say what year it is, but if it were up to me, I would have to guess this is next year. My other problem with the direction were the dreams and flashbacks, which were extremely well made... yes, this problem is in many movies with lazy production crews. My complaint is that when a character has a dream, watches himself on a security camera, or sees into the future, why does he have to see camera angles and scenes that the movie already showed us. No security camera would show a character dodging a bullet Matrix-style, and yet this is what you see on the monitor. The same thing happened during the Matrix Reloaded, and Mission: Impossible 2. It's nothing major, it just kind of reminds me that I'm watching a movie. That shouldn't happen.

So, as if you cared, I would recommend Paycheck to anyone looking for a nail-biting thrill. Affleck ain't that bad...