Technofiction Overview of Source Code (2011)
This story is told through the eyes of Cpt. Colter Stevens, and it is a strange story, indeed. He awakens in your body of the different man, on the Chicago-bound commuter train, and eight minutes later experiences a bomb blast which blows him and the train to bits. He then repeats this experience, over and over. He discovers his mission would be to figure out who set the bomb, and why the Sam Hill he's here in this different body! Before this weirdness began he'd been a helicopter pilot flying a combat mission in Afghanistan.
His condition is steadily revealed as he keeps returning into this to try to solve the mystery. Ultimately he solves both mysteries, falls in love with the beautiful woman on the train, and there is a contented twist at the conclusion.
The director, Duncan Jones, also did "Moon" a film I quite enjoyed too. I'm pleased to see he's keeping up the good work.
This is the good news. Here are the technofiction flaws I saw:
o The first problem I noticed could be that the bomber managed to tote a 50-70 pound bomb made up of dozens of separate parts into the train restroom and smoosh up the ventilator panel and into a stable place available online for above the ceiling without anyone else on the train taking notice. He's a powerful, agile boy, indeed!
o The second problem was that because the story unfolds it might be more and more plot deviceish. You will find there's bomber who's likely to not only blow up this train, but inflate Chicago too, and somehow the authorities discover that this train bomb is simply a prelude....Wow! That's asking a great deal.
Asking much more: This is being carried out by just one individual! He will build, deposit, and set off both devices. MacGyver on steroids!
All of the above appears to be unfolded just to give some urgency for this story.
o Somehow... out of this devastating carnage of the train wreck. The top-secret military people choose a passenger brain that's still alive enough that they'll transfer full sensory images to Cpt. Stevens' mind. Plus they do that within minutes of the wreck happening since the clock is ticking on "the big one" still coming.
There's never a cop around if you want one, but there's a super-secret military agency johnny-on-the-spot when you need a film plot device.
o For some reason having Stevens practice several times, and know very well what his condition is, isn't going to work. The story informs us this key outfit continues to be waiting patiently for a disaster of this sort so that they could test their new creation, so there is plenty of time to obtain Stevens acclimated when they have chosen to do this.
o At one point the military tells Stevens that the blast was deliberately timed to go off when the commuter train was passing a freight train. The military people imply the bomber was watching to do this, which means the bomber was following the train in the car and capable of seeing if this happened.
...Well, he's already strong and agile enough to get a 50-70 pound bomb in the restroom ventilator, and engineer enough to construct the bomb simply by himself, I guess he can be considered a NASCAR-class driver as well.
o The second bomb, the one the military is attempting desperately to stop, is referred to as a dirty bomb. A dirty bomb is really a conventional bomb with a few radioactive stuff mixed in. It isn't a nuclear bomb and it is less powerful as one. It's a run-of-the-mill car bomb plus some radioactive contamination. It's not going to turn Chicago into rubble, the thing the mad bomber says he's targeting.
o I will not go into detail, however the "who" Cpt. Stevens has effects on as he runs through this scenario again and again is one thing that can take some serious belief suspension, but I will grant that.
So, overall, it is a nice thriller to look at. It's well crafted and the acting, pacing and special effects prosper at supporting the storyline. But the story is a technofiction head-scratcher.