Hypnotic

Robert Rodriguez weaves a mesmerizing tale, shrouded in enigma, always keeping you on the edge of your seat. The truth dances just beyond your reach, as he deftly manipulates the story like a skilled magician. Admittedly, I've seen Ben Affleck deliver more captivating performances in other films. His innate charm remains partially hidden in this endeavor. Nonetheless, it remains an enthralling watch. Affleck portrays a cop haunted by the haunting disappearance of his daughter, a mystery that has plagued him for years. However, a string of daring bank heists propels him into a clandestine world of extraordinary individuals endowed with psionic powers, individuals who may hold the key to his daughter's fate. The film's convoluted twists and turns defy expectations, defying your attempts to unravel its secrets. Alice Braga mesmerizes with her portrayal, seamlessly embodying her character's essence. While I personally relish the challenge of deciphering the intricacies of a film's plot, Braga's character defies such expectations. She elucidates the intricate details, leaving little room for speculation. The veil of mystery is lifted, revealing the truth in stark clarity. Character development takes a backseat as the narrative unfurls, for we are explicitly informed of the events as they unfold. Nevertheless, JD Pardo, as Nicks, delivers a compelling performance, leaving us yearning to witness him take the lead in future endeavors. Affleck, in his portrayal of Danny Rourke, showcases unwavering strength, anchoring the film with his solid presence. The twists and turns of the story remain delightfully elusive, avoiding the trap of predictability that often plagues such tales. In comparison to its 2021 namesake, this film shines brightly, offering a far superior experience. I sincerely recommend embarking on this mysterious journey.

Oh my goodness, how in the world did Ben sign up for this lazy writing? If this is all it takes to write movies these days then anyone can write any crazy unexplainable story and not care of it makes sense or not. Sure it's fiction and we know fiction isn't real but it ought to make some sense, unless it's cartoon.

I am very much disappointed in the whole premise. So many loopholes and when the great reveal happened, it just confused the movie even further. It was like you suddenly were watching a different movie.

The continuity didn't make sense. One minute someone is here, the next minute they aren't the one but someone else. I couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening. The acting was bad and bland.

It could have been so much better. It had the Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange and Professor X vibes but I guess they didn't have the budget to make it that huge.

The general concept of battling hypnotics is certainly interesting, but what Hypnotic ultimately fails in is the execution of its concept.

Specifically, the movie uses hypnotic powers as a way to build plot twists, but these plot twists feel more like a half-hearted "oh, actually that didn't happen" than satisfying. It was equivalent to when you play a game with a child who keeps making up new rules as you go:

Adult: "I cut your arm off with my lightsaber."

Child: "No you didn't! I actually healed it!"

In Hypnotic, it's much of the same, answering dramatic moments with a quick retcon that's flimsily attached to a quick "it was hypnosis" explanation. And like playing that game with the child, those "plot twists" only serve to make the Hypnotic viewing experience frustrating rather than fun.

Robert Rodriguez is an immensely gifted cinematographer and has quite a vivid imagination, and both of these great qualities are abundant in Hypnotic. It has a wonderfully clever concept that keeps the film watchable and subversive twists that keep the experience unique.

Sadly, what keeps this movie from being powerful and memorable is it's excessive reliance on exposition. So much of it is necessary to explain the overly complex plot and possibly over half of the dialogue is clumsily-written rapid-fire exposition. It just isn't fun.

And the script keeps us from forming any sort of emotional connection with this story because it's so concerned with explaining WHAT is happening that it forgets to let us in on the intimacies of WHY it's all happening-who these people are, really, and why we should care.

I find this to be a very frustrating film, because it had so much more potential than was tapped into by this extremely rough screenplay.

Danny Rourke is determined to find his missing daughter, or at least learn what happened to her, he finds himself investigating some bizarre and inexplicable cases, where the crimes seem almost impossible.

I was almost quick to switch off, and simply dismiss it as a poor man's Inception, and whilst there are definitely some shades, that obscure surrealism, it's kind of worth sticking with.

I'm a big fan of Ben Affleck, and I'd watch him in anything, and boy has he been in some awful films, this one is far from awful, but it should have been so much better.

The narrative at times is non existent, you'll be sat wondering who, what, where, and on the other side, you have the psychic explaining bits of the plot, presumably to try and give the audience a clue as to what's going on, if you're not concentrating, you will lose it.

On the plus side, it looks great, and it does feel a little different to what's out there, Affleck and Braga are both good, though I feel their characters are both stuck in second gear, neither really offer up too much.

All in all, it's watchable, but it's a frustrating watch.

5/10.