“Intelligent Sci-Fi Making A Comeback”
From “The Matrix” to “Minority Report” to “Groundhog Day”, the recipe for the new sci-fi thriller “Source Code” has a long list of familiar ingredients. But it’s served up with intelligence, humor and a lot of heart. Following “Limitless” only a few weeks ago, “Source Code” is evidence that thoughtful science-fiction is starting to make a strong comeback.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a sort of military cyber-soldier. He wakes up on a Chicago commuter train that, in 8 minutes, will explode at the hands of a terrorist. In a cool bit of new time-travel physics, this explosion has already happened and everyone aboard the train has been killed, but Gyllenhaal is able to be sent back only as far as 8 minutes before the explosion for the purpose of identifying the terrorist before he can strike again later. His mission must be repeated over and over during those same 8 minutes until the terrorist can be identified. Saving the passengers or trying to alter the outcome is impossible since they are already dead. To explain more would be to give too much away.