Source Code: Review By Dark enV

From Director Duncan Jones (Moon) comes a unique and thrilling film. Source Code has all the ingredients to make a great sci-fi thriller. One of the great things about this film is it's story and characters. The story has this kind of sense that we've seen done before in other films but it's not what you'd expect entirely.

After Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train in Chicago he's met by a woman named Christina (Michelle Monaghan) who calls him Sean and tells him she took his advice and thanks him for it. Stevens doesn't know what's going on or who this woman is, as he tries to piece together what's going on he see's his reflection in the window only to notice that it's not his face in the reflection, he discovers he is Sean Fentress. Stevens tries to explain to Christina that he doesn't know who she is or who Sean is, right as he does the train explodes and Stevens wakes up in what is known as the source code. He learns that he's on a mission to find the bomber of the train to prevent another bombing that is expected to take place later that day and will kill more people. Stevens is told he has 8 minutes each time he's sent in the life of someone who was on that train to search for clues and find the bomber.

The acting from the cast is very well done, especially from Gyllenhaal, Monaghan, and Farmiga. You begin to care about Gyllenhaal's character and hope for success in his mission as well as wanting to learn about his history and what happened to him that led to the events of him getting inside the source code.

Duncan Jones's directing is very well done and we see what he can do with a very modest budget once again, this time going up from Moon's $5 million to $35 million. You can see he spends the money pretty wisely to bring you something smart, innovative and fun on the screen. He's one of the rising directors in Hollywood today and I can't wait to see what he does with an even bigger budget in the future. Makes you wonder what could be happening if he would've gotten Superman.

The visual effects can be noticed for the most part but it doesn't really draw you away from the film and it's story. One thing that really impressed me was how many sets and locations they used for this film. I could only counted about 5 or 6 different locations they used for the entire film, the rest seemed like stock footage. Which shows that sometimes less is more.

In the end when you started watching the film you think you know what's going to happen and how but by the time you've gotten involved in the story you begin to wonder. Doubt begins to swirl within you.There are things don't seem to make full sense after the film ends as it battles the rules that you are given in the beginning but it's nothing that will make you hate the movie at all. It's films like these that remind me that there are still great filmmakers out there that don't need a $200+ budget to make a good movie. I can't wait to see what Jones will bring to us in the future.

Overall Grade: B+