Movie Reviews: Review and Synopsis Hollywood Movie: INFINITE (2021)

Infinite is a 2021 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua. Ian Shorr wrote the screenplay based on a story by Todd Stein, who in turn adapted D. Eric Maikranz's 2009 novel The Reincarnationist Papers. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Toby Jones, and Dylan O'Brien

Infinite was digitally released on Paramount+ on June 10, 2021, following delays from its original August 2020 theatrical release due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received negative reviews from critics, with some comparing it unfavorably to other films like The Matrix.

Synopsis Infinite (2021)

In 1985, in Mexico City, operative Heinrich Treadway is on the run from authorities and a stranger named Bathurst. Heinrich and his associates, Abel and Leona, speak about "the Egg," which he stole from Bathurst. Knowing he'll not survive, Heinrich reminds Abel to "look inside" before he drives off a bridge, jumps from his car in mid-air, and onto a crane 150 feet away. As he flees, Treadway watches helplessly as Bathurst arrives and kills Abel and Leona.

In 2020, everyman Evan McCauley suffers from schizophrenia. Because of past institutionalization and violent behavior, Evan is unable to find work or apply for a job. In his effort to pay for his medication, Evan forges a katana for a local gangster despite having no experience as a bladesmith. After the deal goes south, Evan makes his escape but is later arrested.

Evan is interrogated by a man, unaware that he is Bathurst. Bathurst starts to refer to Evan as Heinrich and claims they have known each other for centuries. When Bathurst gets Evan to remember things about his past life, Evan is rescued by Nora Brightman who takes him to an organization she is associated with. There are about 500 individuals in the world who can remember all their past lives, known as the Infinites.

Two opposing factions have developed among the Infinites: the Believers and the Nihilists. The Believers, such as Nora, think remembrance is a gift bestowed to them by a higher power to make the world better. Nihilists like Bathurst consider it a curse. They think the Infinites are condemned to witness humanity self-destruct. They want to be free of this and exterminate all life on Earth.

Both factions believe that Evan is Treadway's reincarnation. Hidden in his memory of his past life is the location of the Egg, the device that was created to end the world. The Believers must retrieve his memory and secure the Egg before Bathurst gets Evan and tortures the information out of him. As Nora, Leona's reincarnation, explains to Evan, the Infinites start to remember things when they are young. By puberty, they have recalled everything. 

This is why Evan was diagnosed schizophrenic. Despite their progress, Evan struggles to regain Treadway's memories, revealed to be the result of trauma endured from accidents earlier in life. However, after a session inside Artisan’s machine, Evan unlocks his memories.

Treadway was killed by the previous Bathurst not long after Abel and Leona. The Believers retrieved his body and took it back to the Hub, where it is kept in a chamber. Evan recalls that he slashed open his belly and put the Egg inside. Bathurst used to be a comrade of Treadway. They spent centuries fighting beside each other. However, Bathurst became disillusioned with the Believers' mission and began attempting to end the reincarnation. The Egg was the product of that search. When activated, it will attack the DNA of living beings and destroy life.

The device with the Egg inside it flies out of a plane. Evan jumps after it and Bathurst follows. The two fight in mid-air, and Evan manages to stop the countdown by pulling out the Egg. He shoots Bathurst with a Dethroner, which ensures that Bathurst will not be reborn. Evan drowns in the ocean with the egg. Meanwhile, Nora and the Artisan destroy the chips freeing the souls of the Believers Bathurst trapped, including Abel's.

Years later, Nora and Abel are reborn and they meet at the Beginning. Evan is reborn in Jakarta, Indonesia. Artisan, now older, visits him and offers a katana to the younger Evan, who regains his memories upon recognizing him.

Cast Infinite (2021)

Mark Wahlberg as Evan McCauley / Heinrich Treadway (2020)

Dylan O'Brien as Heinrich Treadway (1985)

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Bathurst (2020)

Rupert Friend as Bathurst (1985)

Sophie Cookson as Nora Brightman

Jason Mantzoukas as the Artisan

Toby Jones as Bryan Porter

Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Kovic

Liz Carr as Garrick

Kae Alexander as Trace

Tom Hughes as Abel

Joana Ribeiro as Leona

Wallis Day as Agent Shin

Raffaella Chapman as Jinya

Movie Reviews Infinite (2021)

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 16% of 75 critics' reviews of the film are positive, with an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "An initially intriguing sci-fi thriller that quickly veers into incoherence, Infinite is as inane as it is inconsequential."According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 28 out of 100 based on 27 critics, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews."

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film 1.5/4 stars and wrote: "Heading straight to streaming platform Paramount+ without the embarrassment of appearing in theaters first, the movie is both blissfully incoherent and weirdly generic as if it had been assembled from the spare parts of other movies and glued together with stuntwork." From The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney said: "Infinite is a soulless grind. Juiced up with a succession of CG-enhanced accelerated chases and fight action interspersed with numbing bursts of high-concept geek speak, Antoine Fuqua's sci-fi thriller isn't helped by a lead performance from Mark Wahlberg at his most inexpressive."

In his review for Variety, Peter Debruge called the film "Matrix-meets-The Old Guard wannabe" and wrote: "The more you start to nitpick this movie, the more innumerable its plot holes appear until the whole thing collapses in on itself."Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said: "The script doesn't reincarnate so much as it recycles, drawing freely on the nested realities of Inception, the free-your-mind metaphysics of The Matrix and the amnesiac-assassin revelations of the Jason Bourne movies. Maybe watch one of those tonight instead.

" Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the review 0.5/4 stars, saying that "rather than crafting a high-concept science-fiction marvel, Fuqua's Infinite relies on shoddy VFX and ropey world-building for the worst film of his career."

The New York Times listed the film as one of the "Worst Films of 2021".

Source: Wikipedia