Movie Review: Despite Filmmaking Flourish, ‘Hypnotic Proves Too Absurd To Take Seriously
There's something about 'Hypnotic' about writer-director Robert Rodriguez's new action thriller starring Ben Affleck. The trailer for this film, in which Affleck plays a bank robbery detective convicted of kidnapping his young daughter, exudes authenticity. In fact, the first 30 minutes of "Hypnotic" sound a little empty: Rodriguez is a sketchy exercise in dark detective tropes and aesthetics. But then you realize it was on purpose.
Because as detective Danny Rourke (Affleck) discovers as he goes down the rabbit hole of this unsolved bank heist, which ends with the discovery of a Polaroid of his missing daughter in a safe, all is not as it seems in Hypnotic. Box. Follow the instructions of Diana Cruz (Alice Braga), a local psychic who uploads a disturbing synopsis of the "hypnotic constructs" used as weapons at the scene of a robbery by a mysterious man they call Dellrayne (William Fichtner). from the writing found on the polaroid.
This is how Rodriguez's "Hypnotic" opens, a hybrid of "Inception", "The Truman Show", "Rashomon" and "X-Men". After several years directing television and music videos, Rodriguez returned to his genre and indie roots as a cinematographer (along with Pablo Berron) and returned to his Austin, Texas backyard to direct and produce the film. He writes and forwards assignments as he usually does.
Nearly three decades after his debut film El Mariachi, Rodriguez continues to make films in the same independent spirit, and Hypnotic is a refreshing reminder of that and his innate talent for filmmaking. In Hypnotic, Rodriguez plays with an unusual aesthetic for different story spaces, shooting on location and using different lighting schemes and color gradients, demonstrating his skill with camera movement and composition with a real director behind the scenes.
But then there's the matter of the co-written script with Max Borenstein and the star. The plot can only be described as frankly whimsical: there are so many explanations, even representational possibilities, but they are not enough. Poor Braga suffers from all sorts of nonsense about a secret government program to develop "hypnotic constructs" and people with psychic abilities being brought together to create them. Still, there isn't enough focus on the emotional core of the story that makes us care about these people, or why we don't want them to become psychic weapons for the government, and without it the whole thing feels pretty weak. The story is incredibly twisted and improbable, even after the credits roll (no "Hypnotic 2" please).
Affleck once again pays close attention to detail. Maybe he wanted to play in Rodriguez's sandbox for a while, and there's nothing wrong with that, but his performance is downright slow. He uses his raspy Batman voice to hum worldly rhythms that transport him to a sea of empty-cheeked mourning. Rourke, but he's not a man of action, he's more of a man of reaction, sadly swayed by the forces around him, expressionless, hands on hips, standing like a character from The Sims who has to show where the wind is blowing. Hypnotic wind. .
As a fan of the film, one has to respect the constant independent spirit with which Rodriguez works, taking these projects out of the traditional Hollywood system and carving his own path in the industry. It is fun to see the film in the new shades of the cinema genre, but the script and performances in "Hypnosis" are too absurd to be taken seriously.
'hypnotic'
2 stars (out of 4)
MPA Rating: R (for violence)
Duration: 1h32
How to watch: In theaters Friday
