Spoilers & there could potentially be some here so sorry if i do ruin it go watch the film before reading this review you have been warned.
Time for a Duncan Jones film, one that will take you to places where you go omg what. Yep we are watching Source Code which has just one of the most amazing concept ever & is just full on.
Synopsis time
Captain Stevens wakes up on a train opposite Christina who starts talking to him as if she knows him & starts calling him Sean. Disorientated & freaked out he goes to the bathroom & realises hes in someone elses body & starts to freak out & as he calls for help when talking to Christina the train explodes.
Stevens then wakes up in a module with the army with Captain Goodwin talking to him. Turns out after his accident in Afghanistan left him unconscious the best way for him to recover is for him to take part in the Source Code training program, where his mind is transferred onto a dead person on the train for the last 8 minutes of their life, to find out information before another attack happens. They keep sending him back onto the train to find the person who caused it & interrogate them but he keeps failing. He even at one point gets off the train with Christina to save her life but is then killed by another train. upon waking up, he ask is Christina is now alive to which he is told no shes dead.
Growing Angry that he cant change the past with his action & news he has discovered inside the Source Code, he asks what happened to him. Turns out he has legally been declared dead after the accident but his brain function still works enough to be able to get inside the Source Code, so he is still a service to the country. The director of the program isnt happy with this information being told to him & send him back in. Eventually he discovers the Bomber & lets them know. The director then send out team to arrest the bomber to stop the next attack. Stevens ask Goodwin to send him back in one more time to see if he can change the past & she says that wont work, but says that no matter what the outcome she will turn off his life support, instead of erasing his memories to start him up again. He goes back on the train gets rid of the bombs & catches the bomber & uses his last few minutes to call his dad to say hes sorry & that he loved him very much but does this as Sean. His dad replys to say that he was always proud of his son. Knowing he only has 30seconds left he makse sure everyone on the train is having a good time & is happy & kisses Christina saying what would you do if you only had seconds to live. Goodwin turns off his life support machine as people try to stop her & the train & everyone on it pauses in time, only to then come back to life, as he has made an alternative time line & everyone survives. Stevens & Christina get off the train & go on a date, while the director is busy talking about how he wants to use source code one day, to find a culprit of an attack similar to this. Goodwin is standing in the background reading a text from Stevens telling her Source Code works better than they all think & that all it needs is time. She stands over Steven body hooked up to the machine ready to start work as he is still alive, & she tells him that everything is going to be fine.
I keep going on that we need to appreciate Gyllenhaal i really do so im sorry for being a broken record, but the man is immense & is a force to be reckoned with & his performance in this film is soooooo captivating. Seriously you sit there & you want him to find the bomber & every time he & the passengers die you feel sorry for them, but you want him out of the pod, but you dont want him to be dead. You just go through every single emotion with it you really do & he just makes you care about him & whatever is left of him so much.
I like the fact that its not until 50minutes into the films that they tell you what happened to him properly. Because upto that point you route for him so much to get out of his pod & from that second you just want him to be comfortable & to get his wishes. You still care but in a different way.
I like the fact that it does teach you not to judge people by what they look like or the alternative motives, because it judges you too. Especially on the one when they get of the train & it still blows up & hes gutted he got the wrong person. & when you watch it back a second time its bleeding obvious as to who this is, & thats not just because you now know it. No no, its because you remember the clues & follow them on that first train visit & you get it.
How many time do you think they filmed that first bit up to the cup of coffee spill. Its in every single version of it. I recon probably over 100 times they filmed that it the different versions.
How rude was the original Sean that he was a sleep & nodded of as christina spoke to him. Why would she ever be interested in him. nah she made the wrong choice with Original Sean.
I love that in all Duncan Jones films theres Chesney Hawkes song. I think thats brilliant. ITs a proper little easter egg for you all to look out for there.
I feel sorry for Goodwin, shes only doing her job & is made to feel fucking guilty by every single person involved, which is why im glad at the end she grows some tits (not balls shes a woman) & turns off his life support much to everyones anger. Its like her own little redemption proving that they dont own her, much like they dont own him & its his own free will to die. Which is why its so nice at the end that its her he decides to message to say everything is going to be okay.
I like the fact he got to speak to his dad to say goodbye that was beautiful. Its what we all wish we had the chance to do. Its nice to get closure & that the people you love know that in the end. It truly is magical.
I like the fact the movie was bold enough to give you a happy ever after & that everyone survived in the end. Other films like this would have just had it end with the train paused & the life machine going out, but in this one im so happy we do get the final farewell & that everything is going to be fine.
Also some of the proposed future technology in this film, is stuff you can believe that people would try to do to save the world. It really is clever.
This really is a special film it just makes me feel all happy. I also like the fact its not drawn out it tells you the story & gets on with it. Thank You Duncan for another masterpiece which will live forever.