A 9-year-old movie directed by John Woo that may now be considered a worn out imaginative piece, surprisingly still manages to glue you to your seats and screen. The reasons might vary—from acting perfection of Ben Affleck to a bizarre plot. It’s a movie totally worth of a two-hour gawking because just like a captivating book, this movie forces the viewer to be a part of it.
From predicting and imagining to sitting at the edge of your seats, this movie offers room for it all. With a beautiful representation and perfect combination of a being a sci-fi action, there’s never a moment when one would feel the concentration wearing away to boredom. The movie is set in the present day, a fast paced world where there is a constant demand of new technology and innovations. One where software and engineering companies are in continuous competition to invent unique tools and techniques. This is what initiates the overall concept of the movie.
This severe need brings in picture, the protagonist of the movie- Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck), a successful reverse engineer, an able and an exceptional being whose only major aim in life is to earn exorbitantly, no matter the costs involved. This philosophy is what gets him into a chaos and forms the plot of the movie. Hired by a firm, Allcom, to invent a new technique, Jennings comes up with a 3D virtual being for the company. However, undertaking this project comes with a major sacrifice. At the end of the project, his 8-week memories are extracted and terminated forever. The traces of his association with the firm are erased in exchange of a big fat pay check.
The success of that modus operandi encourages the company to hire him again for a revolutionary invention that will change the face and future of mankind. Untold of the project but ensured a gross amount of ninety million dollars in exchange for his services and again, his memories; Jennings agrees to work for money yet again. This time, however, the stakes are higher than before- an extraction of his memories for a three year period within which he would be involved with the project. Then, we see is him after three years having completed his tenure with the company.
With no memory of whatsoever happened with him in the past years, he soon discovers that he has been cheated and got himself into enormous trouble. With the Feds and the firm heads out to find him, he ventures into in the real world in an attempt to find out what his life was in the past years. All that he has as traces from the past are twenty apparently useless small objects and a woman in love with him. Will knowing his past help his present or destroy the possibility of his future?
Even though some aspects of the movie might appear to be clichéd, predictive and repetitive to a certain extent, the direction, plot and acting are food for the movie freaks who love a perfect blend of suspense, action, adventure and science-fiction. Several movies have been made on the lines of this movie, including a 2005 Bollywood movie- Kkrish, but Paycheck manages to significantly stand out as the most thrilling flick so far. A complete package of entertainment and excitement makes the movie a must watch. So download it, buy a CD and make sure to catch it the next time it is screened on the television.
Saumia Bhatnagar
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