Jennings makes a living developing high-quality technology and then having his memory wiped, for a massive reward. He takes one final job(haven't heard that one before), and when he wakes up, having forgotten what he's done, and finding he swapped the millions for a parcel of seemingly random, useless everyday objects. Next thing, he's being interrogated by the FBI, and it turns out that these things might prove vital. This follows the short story by Philip K. Dick pretty well, if it arguably doesn't make the points that does. The concept remains the same, and this does have some fun with the idea of a bunch of seemingly meaningless stuff can be amazing in the right situation, and the lead having predicted what he'd need, and him figuring it out as he goes(guessing what will be used to what effect is enjoyable). Some of the settings and events can be memorable(and futuristic), but on the whole, this is pretty lacking. As expected, there are plot holes and the logic is missing, in addition, the FX are meh, and Woo's style isn't as present in this as it could and should be(yeah, he continues to not be that impressive in Hollywood... other than Face/Off). The dialog is uninspired, as is the action(and does anyone buy Affleck in the lead in this genre? Plus, he and Uma don't have chemistry), which is also remarkably disorienting, and while the chases can be reasonable, vehicular and otherwise(the train bit has been done much better, though), the shooting is nothing special and the martial arts(a bo staff? It's great, don't get me wrong, it simply feels completely out of place) are decent and well-choreographed. I think the biggest problem is that this offers so little to remember(...sorry. Had to). It's 105 minutes of your life that you'll mostly find "passable at best". I recommend this to those who badly want to see this plot in visual form(if you don't need it in this medium, simply read the original). 6/10
Review of Paycheck
