Hypnotic begins with Daniel Rourke (Affleck), a cop in a therapy session. He is disassociating, thinking about his missing daughter, but snaps back to reality when the therapist calls him. The trauma lies in the disappearance of his daughter in the park: when he turned around for a second, she was gone, for which he deeply regrets not having been more aware of her surroundings. With the case still open, it is assumed that the daughter was murdered, but her body has not been found.
Hypnotic plays into the conspiracy theory that psychics are real and influence our world in ways that make reality seem unreal. Rourke begins to unravel the layers of mystery surrounding the so-called "Hypnotics," the name given to psychics in the film for their mind-bending powers. He finds himself plummeting to the bottom of the rabbit hole, at the end of which he finds the answer to his daughter's disappearance.
Hypnotic is conceptualized around the time while director Robert Rodriguez was filming Spy Kids 2, which is what he told the audience at the opening performance on Sunday night. This was a full circle moment for him, revealing that this movie is a work in progress. After watching it, Hypnotic still needs work to progress because this is all over the place. Written by Rodriguez and Matt Borenstein, the film stars Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, William Fichtner, Jeff Fahey, and Dayo Okeniyi.
The trailer gives viewers a good look at the film's plot as Ben Affleck's character returns to work after his young daughter goes missing. While investigating a criminal who hypnotizes his victims, he realizes that this new adversary may be related to the disappearance of his daughter.
Ben Affleck leads the sci-fi action thriller as Detective Daniel Rourke, a headstrong, no-nonsense guy with a soft spot for his daughter. He is prepared to go to hell to rescue her from her, believing that her disappearance is related to a larger conspiracy. Alice Braga stars as the hypnotic Diana Cruz, who is on the run from a secret organization of hypnotics and has psychic powers of her own. She eventually teams up with Affleck's Rourke to find her missing daughter and take down the evil group once and for all.
RodrÃguez always approaches the genre in creative and inventive ways, constantly coming up with world-expanding concepts to explore, as well as being one of Hollywood's most talented auteurs. He's a big fan of giving the audience details early on and letting the characters go crazy with them, and that's the most exciting element of his storytelling style. His direction has always been the most impressive attribute of him. Science fiction and magical realism are his signature, and he knows how to visually materialize these ideals in a balanced way.
More often than not, though, his writing lacks the cohesiveness needed to tell strong stories. There is a tendency to overload with so much detail that it borders on the incomprehensible. Twists and turns are a staple of engaging thrillers, and collecting breadcrumbs to piece together the logic is what makes the genre so much fun. But there's such a thing as having too many twists and turns, and in Hypnotic your head will spin 360 degrees trying to keep up with every new development that comes along. This continues until the credits roll. When it was over, I realized that I had spent so much time collecting and processing new details that I forgot to have fun.
Plus, Affleck as the lead isn't helping Hypnotic's cause as he sleepwalks through this. There is no emotion, no inflection in his voice or tone; It's all wooden and flat. Had the actor seemed more enthusiastic about the material, he would have elevated the experience, but he never puts enough energy into anchoring the eccentricity of the story. Braga is the only one who brings tenacity to this, and maybe if she was the lead, she would have a completely different opinion.
Comments
Post a Comment