Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

This movie exceeded my expectations coming in. It was a very entertaining and fun movie that blew me away. It really is a one of a kind movie that is wild and fearless in crossing the boundaries of the human imagination. I look forward for the sequel and more movies like this.

A bit of a bait and switch. If like me you thought this was just a time travel comedy about saving the world from phone addiction and VR, then you'll be disappointed. It's really a black mirror episode in disguise. The film even takes short breaks to tell smaller subplot stories about some of the side characters. The first half of the film is ok, but it starts huffing its own farts in the second half with scenes that are over the top and that don't really make much sense even at the end when you're told what happened (although many people will likely figure out what happened on their own). I think this is one of those films that are best streamed at home, since you can turn it off without loosing any money. It's annoying since the early commentary on phone addiction, VR, school shootings and how people have become so psychologically weak made for an interesting comedy and was much more interesting film.

In the main I enjoyed this film, however it seemed like a a mashup of Black Mirror episodes. There were a number of idea that were ok, but they weren't knitted together very well. Whether it was the screenplay, the editing or the direction, or a combination of them all, the flow just wasn't right. Overall there were some funny bits, and I'd probably watch it again.

A man (Sam Rockwell) bursts into a diner and declares that he’s from the future and is back to save the world from the impending AI apocalypse. After lots of bluster, he manages to assemble a crew that includes Juno Temple, Haley Lu Richardson, Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña. They set out on a weird and wacky sci fi adventure. This was directed by Gore Verbinski, who’s best known for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, so off-the-wall comedy is expected. There aren’t many outright laffs and many of the scenes go on too long, but the main quest and the side trips that set up the character’s involvement keep it interesting. This is an extremely unusual comic adventure that’s makes scary statements about our culture’s obsession with our devices and their addictive appeal.

I can't recommend this movie. It can't decide what it wants to be: edgy, funny, weird, etc. but it fails at all of these. Many parts of it are dull to be honest. It's the type of movie that you sit watching saying "Oh here's where it is going to start getting good", but then it's not good. It's not futuristic. It's barely sci-fi. The actors have so very little to work with in this. I would call the overall movie weak. You watch it giving it the benefit of the doubt for over an hour, but it never gets there. You hope it does. You expect that maybe it will. It's almost lazy. It's hard to put into words. It's way over-rated. I went in not knowing what to expect and left disappointed. Walked out before the very lame ending was finished.