Jason KingLimitless (6/10)
March 14th 2011 22:13
:
I want NZT!!!
Category: Reviews
Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star in Limitless, an action-thriller about a writer who takes an experimental drug that allows him to use 100 percent of his mind. As one man evolves into the perfect version of himself, forces more corrupt than he can imagine mark him for assassination.
Out-of-work writer Eddie Morra's (Cooper) rejection by girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) confirms his belief that he has zero future. That all vanishes the day an old friend introduces Eddie to NZT, a designer pharmaceutical that makes him laser focused and more confident than any man alive.
Now on an NZT-fueled odyssey, everything Eddie's read, heard or seen is instantly organized and available to him. As the former nobody rises to the top of the financial world, he draws the attention of business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who sees this enhanced version of Eddie as the tool to make billions.
But brutal side effects jeopardize his meteoric ascent. With a dwindling stash and hit men who will eliminate him to get the NZT, Eddie must stay wired long enough to elude capture and fulfill his destiny. If he can't, he will become just another victim who thought he'd found invincibility in a bottle.
I want this drug - I have worked out I only need 36500 pills and I am sorted for life! Is it this centuries SOMA?
I enjoyed Limitless but it will only score a 6 on the Salty scale. The plot meanders and the film goes from being on a high to not having the drug and it repeats over and over. I found the end really weak and by the end I didn't like Morra - thought he was a dick and still a loser - just a smarter one. I also found the direction was uncontrolled and stuffed too much into the film that it sucked the heart out of it - there wasn't much personality to the characters and I just didn't care for them. The cinematography was superb and those superzoom continuous shots through cars and over great distance were awesome but did occasionally make me feel a bit nauseous - I do not get motion sickness but this one definitely steered me in its direction.
I like Bradley Cooper and have liked him ever since he was the geeky wuss flatmate of Sydney in Alias and he has come so far over the years and is on a meteoric rise in Hollywoodland. He does a good Morra and he is great as the loser guy who is a depressed mess all the way through to superbrain genius who makes squillions. A lot of it is achieved solely through clothes, posture, hair and contact lenses - as soon as he is smart his eyes are more vividly blue. Originally this film was meant to star Shia LaBeouf but they had to be replace him due to him badly injuring his arm in a car accident. One of the things I have issue with is the fact that he has access to 100% of his brain - surely he could pull off a bit more than publishing a book and making some money?? Where is the solving of the energy crisis? Where is the solving of all of the world's problems? And really - if he can see every single scenario why would he leave his jacket with a lawyer?? Too many contradictions! Why not stockpile? Surely even me in the cinema using about 2% of my brain had that one sorted out. And OMG - how far would you really go to get the drug you want?? Too far Morra.
And De Niro needs to retire - he is just tired onscreen and with no real punch - he is old man acting by numbers - it was like Morra said "you will end up being my bitch". Cooper out acted De Niro in every scene - what the hell's with that? And OMG - director Neil Burger (The Illusionist), and cinematographer, Jo Willems (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, Confessions of a Shopaholic) please no close ups of De Niro and his giant hairy ears
But marvellous work with the cinematography and those superzoom shots.
Abbie Cornish was basically just eye candy and girlfriend on the side and the scene she has straight out of The Long Kiss Goodnight seriously had the cinema laughing and not cheering at her action skills. It was quite funny - no drug is that good.
Like most drugs this film has its characters more scattered than organised and it has a nasty comedown - enjoyable at the time but when you think about it at the end and the days following you start to see that so much of your drug fuelled night makes no sense - reminds me of a night on acid when I was a stupid young person - I kept a journal of an entire night - but did it all on the one page and basically the next day the entire page was black because I wrote about 50 pages on the one on top of each layer. That next morning nothing on that page made sense besides the blurry fleeting memories of one fun night Now when I think back I can remember nothing of that night and a shame because I think that in a year's time I will think nothing much of this film and remember less besides Cooper and NZT - I still want that drug Worth 6 out of 10.
Out-of-work writer Eddie Morra's (Cooper) rejection by girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) confirms his belief that he has zero future. That all vanishes the day an old friend introduces Eddie to NZT, a designer pharmaceutical that makes him laser focused and more confident than any man alive.
Now on an NZT-fueled odyssey, everything Eddie's read, heard or seen is instantly organized and available to him. As the former nobody rises to the top of the financial world, he draws the attention of business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who sees this enhanced version of Eddie as the tool to make billions.
But brutal side effects jeopardize his meteoric ascent. With a dwindling stash and hit men who will eliminate him to get the NZT, Eddie must stay wired long enough to elude capture and fulfill his destiny. If he can't, he will become just another victim who thought he'd found invincibility in a bottle.
I want this drug - I have worked out I only need 36500 pills and I am sorted for life! Is it this centuries SOMA?
I enjoyed Limitless but it will only score a 6 on the Salty scale. The plot meanders and the film goes from being on a high to not having the drug and it repeats over and over. I found the end really weak and by the end I didn't like Morra - thought he was a dick and still a loser - just a smarter one. I also found the direction was uncontrolled and stuffed too much into the film that it sucked the heart out of it - there wasn't much personality to the characters and I just didn't care for them. The cinematography was superb and those superzoom continuous shots through cars and over great distance were awesome but did occasionally make me feel a bit nauseous - I do not get motion sickness but this one definitely steered me in its direction.
I like Bradley Cooper and have liked him ever since he was the geeky wuss flatmate of Sydney in Alias and he has come so far over the years and is on a meteoric rise in Hollywoodland. He does a good Morra and he is great as the loser guy who is a depressed mess all the way through to superbrain genius who makes squillions. A lot of it is achieved solely through clothes, posture, hair and contact lenses - as soon as he is smart his eyes are more vividly blue. Originally this film was meant to star Shia LaBeouf but they had to be replace him due to him badly injuring his arm in a car accident. One of the things I have issue with is the fact that he has access to 100% of his brain - surely he could pull off a bit more than publishing a book and making some money?? Where is the solving of the energy crisis? Where is the solving of all of the world's problems? And really - if he can see every single scenario why would he leave his jacket with a lawyer?? Too many contradictions! Why not stockpile? Surely even me in the cinema using about 2% of my brain had that one sorted out. And OMG - how far would you really go to get the drug you want?? Too far Morra.
And De Niro needs to retire - he is just tired onscreen and with no real punch - he is old man acting by numbers - it was like Morra said "you will end up being my bitch". Cooper out acted De Niro in every scene - what the hell's with that? And OMG - director Neil Burger (The Illusionist), and cinematographer, Jo Willems (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, Confessions of a Shopaholic) please no close ups of De Niro and his giant hairy ears
But marvellous work with the cinematography and those superzoom shots.
Abbie Cornish was basically just eye candy and girlfriend on the side and the scene she has straight out of The Long Kiss Goodnight seriously had the cinema laughing and not cheering at her action skills. It was quite funny - no drug is that good.
Like most drugs this film has its characters more scattered than organised and it has a nasty comedown - enjoyable at the time but when you think about it at the end and the days following you start to see that so much of your drug fuelled night makes no sense - reminds me of a night on acid when I was a stupid young person - I kept a journal of an entire night - but did it all on the one page and basically the next day the entire page was black because I wrote about 50 pages on the one on top of each layer. That next morning nothing on that page made sense besides the blurry fleeting memories of one fun night
Now when I think back I can remember nothing of that night and a shame because I think that in a year's time I will think nothing much of this film and remember less besides Cooper and NZT - I still want that drug Worth 6 out of 10.| 19 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
