I strongly suspect Self/less will be criticized more for what it is not than what it is.

As the film begins, icy real-estate magnate Damian (Ben Kingsley) is diagnosed with cancer and facing the end of his life, beset by fear and regret. Out of desperation, he agrees to a highly expensive and unlawful medical procedure developed by an enigmatic scientist (Matthew Goode, exuding very British malevolence). The treatment involves the transfer of his mind into a youthful and reportedly laboratory-grown new body (Ryan Reynolds). At first, Damian enjoys his extended lease on life and renewed vigor, but disorienting, opaque memories he cannot identify lead him to investigate the true origin of his new form.

To be honest, this film does not cover much ground as a piece of cerebral and/or psychedelic speculative fiction, a fact which may dispirit viewers since it is by Tarsem Singh, a music-video veteran and the director of such stylish cult favorites as The Cell and The Fall. The first-act cognitive switch is utilized as a plot-inciting device, à la the wrong-man dubiety in North by Northwest or amnesia in The Bourne Identity, rather than an invitation to travel inside the human mind and explore its contradictory, ever-shifting complexity. And though both are in fine form, Kingsley (featured only briefly) and Reynolds do almost nothing to emulate one another, not even in the early scenes in which Damian undergoes physical therapy to become comfortable inside his just-purchased figure. No trace of the elder English actor's fierce, guarded, stern turn can be found in Reynolds' instantly more charismatic and relaxed performance.

However, its shortcomings as science fiction notwithstanding, Self/less is a very well-executed action film. A certain one-man-against-a-deadly-conspiracy tension builds at a steady and involving pace, and twists and turns are well-placed throughout. The plentiful sequences of chasing and fighting are staged with spacial clarity and laced with a modest-but-still-recognizable amount of Singh's characteristic visual whimsy. One key scene, for instance, unfolds in an out-of-the-way industrial field of discarded, decaying Mardi Gras floats and props. There is also a grounded and low-key charm to the film's set pieces, perhaps because it is a comparatively inexpensive studio release, particularly at this time of year. It entirely eschews ultra-over-the-top, physics-defying computer-generated wizardry.

So, Self/less may bend one's mind only slightly, but it does raise the pulse and warmly satisfy as an escapist summertime jaunt.

B+

Nice, glad you liked it. I think I will enjoy this too.

This was decent. I liked that it was more of a straightforward action/thriller that didn't try to throw all the science crap at you left and right. Kingsley was really solid in those earlier scenes and I thought Reynolds was good too. He was pretty much his charming/easy going self, but also brought a nice touch of vulnerability to the character. I also have to agree with David that there is something really refreshing about watching a movie like this that has low key yet very well executed, practical action sequences for the most part. The highway bit is easily my favorite followed by the showdown at the wife's house. That finale was weak sauce though, especially Matthew Goode's death with the terrible CGI flames.

This is an OK film, which feels despite it's quite ambitious premise very small in set-up. I enjoyed it for the most part, it's quite neatly made and Reynolds does a fine job as the lead. The swimming pool scene with the daughter, a good role from this child actor, was especially nice. The wife role I disliked though, it lacked genuineness, felt they could have cast someone better there. I found Kingsley New York's accent pretty odd too. It has a few cool action sequences and the plot is interesting. It's a decent sci-fi action drama overall which could have been better though if it added a more thrilling story development with higher stakes.

B-

This was fine.

B

Self/less is a good movie, a batshit crazy movie, but a good one. Tarsem Singh has yet to make a bad movie. *A-*