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Time travel stories have become a dime a dozen in the film industry lately, but every now and then one comes along with enough of a twist that makes it unique. This film is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick called The Golden Man, and with Nicolas Cage in the lead role we end up with a pretty decent action movie. With co-stars like Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel, Moore being the antagonist and Biel being the love interest, the story's action keeps a nice even keel. The only true draw back this story has is that it's another terrorist plot to blow up a city with a nuclear device, this is becoming old really quick and hopefully someone will come up with a better storyline soon.
Only being able to see a few minutes into the future Cris Johnson uses his talent as a Las Vegas magician, until the FBI want his help in preventing a nuclear attack on Los Angeles. The camera effects that are used to emphasize the time travel are very inventive, with a mix of slow motion frames and rewind the effect is subtle and isn't over powering. One of the aspects that's fun in this story is at times when you think the scenario is moving forward and the characters are interacting, all of a sudden the rewind button is pushed and you find out that what you just saw was the look into the future by Johnson. One effect that stands out from the rest of the film is when Johnson is on a ship; to search multiple decks he goes off on his own and splits off into multiple versions of himself in order to accomplish this. It's a cool effect that is worth the time that it was put into it for the film.
Stories that allow the audience to be drawn into the plot and wonder along with the characters as to what happens next is in my book a film to see. Here we're given a set of characters that we enjoy watching through thick and thin, and when the final show down is achieved we're taken along as if we are a part of the story. With all of the films that Cage has done this one isn't one of his best but it is quit enjoyable, and isn't that the point of watching a movie. This film has just enough sci-fi in it to push the envelope of reality, it doesn't over power the plot, which in turn allows the drama to come through.