
“Hypnotic” is a sci-fi thriller set in Texas that boasts of mind-reading antagonists that are policed by Ben Affleck. Personally, I feel that Sci-fi is never truly dull, however, this movie seemed to have an unnatural amount of vacant space in it. As far as the plot is concerned, our heroine seems to be in a pickle right off the bat since her daughter has gone missing.
Truth be told, a bad William Fichtner playing ‘hypnotic’ seems pretty hard to believe bunching everything up but our hero’s imagination. Out of all the content in the Movie “Hypnotic”, audiences were left more baffled by the picture of the daughter than the story itself-‘how was Rourke holding the photo when the bank was getting robbed?’–which brings us to the other defining piece of the movie, “Find Lev Dell Rayne”, scrawled on the picture in English but in a rather ugly handwriting.
Furthermore, if you look closely and ignore all the cringe-worthy dialogue, alongside the loops and glitches of the movie, you’d notice that the movie does have a deeper meaning, but only if you’re a fan of Robert Rodriguez if not then the only thing you’d be able to see would be chaos.
Despite having to deal with an insurance lawsuit and dealing with production breaks, Rodriguez managed to edit the movie ‘Hypnotic’ which stars Alice Braga. Having never left Austin, Texas while filming throughout his entire career, it’s strange to see the movie set there as his first choices were Los Angeles and Toronto. These two cities were supposed to serve as alternates but for some reason, Rodriguez shot the film in Austin after filming other projects there. This brings us to the question, was Austin truly ever the vibrant place he claims it was?
Rourke has quite the reputation for asking absurd and difficult questions and ‘Hypnotic’ continues that pattern. Dressing the inquisitive Rourke as a doll, Rodriguez gives him the freedom to roam Austin. There are some co-starring roles as well including Diana Cruz played by Alice Braga. Rodriguez’s most avid fan is Garcia who coincidentally is a frequent visitor of Bone Shack. Bone Shack’s Barbecue spot serves breakfast tacos to Texas Rangers and truckers.
The remaining Austin spots are only known because the character actors that hang around there, such as Jeff Fahey and Jackie Earle Haley. Also, we have a more Alex Jones-like crazy (Dayo Okeniyi) who lurks in an ostentatious bunker. He can see quite well but still wears an eye patch that can be switched from one eye to the other so as to not be recognized by facial scanners of security cameras, right?
The modular oddness of this concealed Austin, a city that Rourke never had the intuition to probe, paradoxically turns out to be quite as vivid as the soaker film’s prepackaged and by now overused remixing of the slashes and cliche outlined by the now Nolan in his signature films Memento, Inception, and Tenet. Hypnotic is nothing near the slick or even considered works that Nolan masterfully defines Ginera in the case. The visual elements are cluttered with visuals that tend to be more intense than normal and the lines between the characters are often robotic which is rather annoying. The unaffectedly charming Affleck is the main man in an active cast, but this bold caper does not add much value at all.
The Honorable Mention goes to Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic.” As much as I love watching Rodriguez smear his quirky fetishes all over a movie, I can’t deny the fact that even Alice Braga offering Ben Affleck a drink and being in the company of an enigmatic Texas Ranger has its charm. Yes, the coffee might be ordered ‘black with sludge’ but that’s beside the point. If you are a follower of Rodriguez then having these simple, easy to spot ‘flaws’ can be quite appealing. Underground humor is certainly more of an acquired passion when River Okeninyi plays a paranoid hacker and hands Rourke a bizarre invention ‘Mountain Dew’ and promotes it with “All organic DIY!” This might not cut the mustard for Rourke, but that is another tale in and of itself.
The fans of the franchise will and still are able to relish on the amusing nature of the film. On the contrary, others chip in by remarking how absurd it might sound for Affleck to be dubbing ‘Hypnotics’ as ”More of a movie than a movie.” As is the tendency of all directors, Rodriguez also undoubtedly adds close-ups on every shot as well as story beats to try and catch viewers off guard, it’s not too easy when distractions tend to come up alongside you. It’s hard, but not that hard to get passed the barriers amidst the clutter.
Consider this–The situation has a certain degree of interest, that could quite possibly be taken up a notch, nevertheless, this is precisely why the drama is different in “Hypnotic,” a dive Chaser Movie where the A-Listers need to nonchalantly build the gorgeously underwhelming twist, I guess. It’s all about the wanting, if you want to watch Rodriguez and the bunch of a struggling rabbits try to yank a rug from under your feet then this is your jam. In any event, “Hypnotic” is goggling enough, as the focus is right on Rodriguez and his stumbles, despite, being amusing enough, not exotic or engrossing enough to restore your attention.
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