Source Code (2011)

Some movies are good. Some movies are bad. Some movies are neither. Source Code enters another category. This movie is not bad, far from it, yet not exactly good. However, once you’ve seen it, you keep thinking about it, in a good way.
The story line at first seems very simple: The US army have developed a program to revisit the past, as seen through a dead man’s eyes, in order to discover information. We follow Colter Stevens as he tries to discover the identity of a train bomber before another major attack, by exploring a train that has already exploded, moments before the bomb goes off. The exact same situation is thus explored in different ways, showing us to some extent the randomness of life and how it can be so easily altered. That’s the philosophical part I get from it anyway.
Up to here, things seem simple and easy, and we imagine it to be another Vantage Point – an action movie with a difference. However this is not really an action movie. Sure there is the love part, but in the end, the story is more about life itself in a science-fictiony kind of way. So after an initial twist that adds a huge emotional factor to the movie (along with the obvious and necessary love story), you feel like this movie could be different. The initial ending proves this as what you think is the last scene, is so well done and memorable, you almost feel a tear coming.
And then there is a final twist that just simply boggles the mind. You think you have the movie figured out, and then the last five minutes just put everything back into oblivion. (Hint: Think about the space-time continuum). You think it is not possible, think about it more, and think again, and still cannot find a plausible explanation. More questions are asked than answered in the end.
Yes, it is a bit like Inception in a way.
I really was not expecting much from Source Code. The trailer made it see like a basic sci-fi action movie. Turns out it is not a lot like that, and thus had me pleasantly surprised. The actors were all great in their respective roles and the story was novel and interesting. You really do feel for the protagonist, something that is rare in modern movies.
Sure, on the one hand the ending does seem too Hollywoody however; on the other hand it is really unexpected (tough you expect it in a way, because it is Hollywood after all). Some of the movie does seem obvious, like the love story, or the identity of the bomber, yet the way taken to the ending is new, and thus Source Code is an undiscovered gem of 2011.

4/5
Loved:A really unexpected movie, with nice twists. Good story, good actors, good all-round.
Hated:Does seem a bit obvious/Hollywood.