Hot
News!
We have moved to our Brand new home on our own server at www.thezreview.co.uk
Please click
over there for ALL our DAILY updates!
Impostor
Directed
By: Gary Fleder Written By: Phillip K. Dick (story), Scott Rosenberg
(adaptation) Starring: Gary Sinise, Vincent D'Onofrio, Madeleine
Stowe, Tony Shalhoub Rated: PG-13 (Violence / Language) Running Time: 91 Min
The year is 2079. The planet Earth is at war with aliens from
Alpha Centari, and Earth is losing the battle. In order to restore
peace to a troubled world, renowned scientist Spencer Olham,
played by Gary Sinise, has developed an ultimate weapon of mass
destruction. Yes, a more brilliant strategy for interstellar
peace has seldom been conceived, but that isn't what this movie
is about. The real story is that Earth Security Agents, led
by Vincent D'Onofrio, are convinced that Spencer is actually
a killer cyborg replicant of Spencer, programmed to explode
when it meets with Earth's Chancellor!
If the concept of a troubled, late 21st century world filled
with replicants sounds familiar, it's because Impostor is based
on a short story by noted science fiction scribe Philip K. Dick,
best known for Blade Runner. The basic plotline here is that
Spencer, claiming innocence, escapes from the Security Agents
who then chase him around for the remainder of the film. In
between chases, Spencer searches for the one-armed man, er,
I mean verification of his true identity. You see, even if Spencer
were a replicant, he wouldn't know it.
Impostor's plot details had me constantly wondering, 'Why?'.
Why wouldn't the Security Agents hold Spencer in a location
that was, well, secure? If the Agents believed Spencer to be
a cyborg, why didn't they treat him like one instead of messing
about with psychological torture tactics? Why didn't the Agents
simply kill him while they had the chance? Why don't the Security
Agents know about the routine test that Spencer claims can prove
he isn't a replicant? And if Spencer is a replicant, why didn't
the Centarians program him to be aware of his deadly mission?
Why wouldn't the Centarians provide him with any defensive capabilities?
Why didn't it occur to them that replicating Spencer's identity
implant, which allows the agents to track him, might be a bad
idea? Why didn't anyone realize that there isn't a single shred
of logic to Impostor's screenplay? The answer to these questions,
and many others, is that if they did, there wouldn't be a movie!
In fact, even the world portrayed in this film is utterly pointless
and without reason. Unlike Blade Runner, Impostor never provides
a decent setting for it's unlikely events to take place. Instead
of being swept into a wonderously believable 21st century environment,
we're only witness to Spencer's trek through various examples
of cheap set design and poorly conceived futuristic props, interrupted
occasionally by panning shots of cities and spacecraft which
look suspiciously like deleted scenes from Titan A.E. Oh, how
lucky to be in the audience for this one! I've seen more believable
special effects produced with a mini-cam and a well thrown frisbee.
I've also seen much better acting from Gary Sinise, Tony Shalhoub,
and especially Vincent D'Onofrio. While Sinise and Shalhoub
appear to practice the 'less-is-more' style of acting, D'Onofrio
is so over the top that he must have believed he was in a completely
different movie! The dialogue exchanges which result from this
are often unintentionally humorous, but never very memorable.
In fact, the only concept in this film memorable to the annals
of science fiction history may be Impostor's incredibly idiotic
placement of television view screens. Who the heck does director
Gary Fleder think he is, Paul Verhoeven? It seems another identity
check may be required!
So, if you find yourself craving a story about the future gone
awry, full of interesting and thought provoking ideas concerning
guilt and innocence, identity, and the search for one's true
self, you should wait for Steven Spielberg's Minority Report,
or watch Blade Runner or Total Recall. All three of these films
are based on stories by Phillip K. Dick. Oh, and if you hadn't
already guessed, stay as far away from Impostor as humanly possible.
Why? Because if you do, there won't be a sequel!!!
