Friday, June 18, 2021

Infinite

Infinite is a half-assed sci-fi film about immortals reincarnated over the years. Mark Wahlberg stars as Evan McCauley, a diagnosed schizophrenic with anger issues and dreams of other people's lives. Arrested after a drug deal goes wrong, McCauley gets on the radar of two competing groups of immortals calling themselves Infinites who want what McCauley hid in a past life (a weapon capable of destroying all life on the planet).

The script plays to Wahlberg strength of being confused and annoyed by everything happening around him. The audience knows how he feels. The "good" Infinites include Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Toby Jones, and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson. They are out to restore McCauley's memories and prevent the weapon following into the nihilistic branch of the group led by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Ejiofor's character is exhausted of life and the countless reincarnations he has gone through. Since there is no way to prevent reincarnation (other than the process he invented to use on his enemies which would prevent his rebirth if used on himself...?) he wants to kill every living soul on the planet by making use of a magic egg.

There are some interesting ideas buried deep inside Infinite about a hidden race continuing their journey life after life, however the script can't really find anything that interesting to do with them. What it does offer are some passable action sequences, an inordinate number of plot holes, and the mystery of McCauley's life (which turns out to not be all that mysterious as both groups are certain of his true identity). Director Antoine Fuqua has proved in the past he can produce good action films, but this isn't one of them. This Highlander wannabe reminds me more of that franchise's troubled sequels than the film that became a cult classic. To put it bluntly, Infinite is infinitely disappointing.

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