Infinite Movie Review

Infinite (2021)

Rent Infinite on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Ian Shorr (screenplay by), Todd Stein (screen story by), D. Eric Maikranz (based on the book "The Reincarnationist Papers" by)
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Cookson, Dylan O'Brien, Jason Mantzoukas, Toby Jones
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
A man discovers that his hallucinations are actually visions from past lives.

Verdict
It's a generic save the world plot held together by action sequences instead of a story. There is no depth to this movie, and I was frequently bored. Reincarnation is used just to make this story seem like something interesting and mask the thinness of the story.
Skip it.

Review
This is a little bit of The Old Guard, but instead of actually living virtually forever, people in Infinite effectively live forever through incarnation. I'm unclear on how some of them amass such wealth in just one lifetime. I could understand if it was accumulated over decades or centuries, but each of these infinites starts out as a baby each round.

You know you're in for a confusing movie when there's voiceover to explain the warring factions over reincarnation. Believers use reincarnation for good and nihilists who see the power as a curse want to end all life. It's pretty generic. There are bad guys that want to blow up the world and good guys that want to stop them. The reincarnation angle is there just to add some substance to this mindless plot.

Mark Wahlberg plays Evan McCauley.

With a history of mental illness, it makes it difficult for Evan (Mark Wahlberg) to find honest work. He can't answer how he seemingly knows everything, but if you've read the synopsis, you do. I like the concept that dreams that feel real are. It's a past life. I don't recall a dream where I'm someone else, so while that sounds good it's a stretch.

This showcases a lot of over the top action. The plot is a little bit of nonsense with over the top action and stunts trying to mask it. At one point we get a repeat of the voiceover. It's nearly the exact same thing. This makes the opening voiceover even more inane.

This feels like it draws some inspiration from Assassin's Creed with the egg and past lives, or it at least someone read a synopsis. This is mostly style with little substance. It's cartoonish and simple in execution. This is more He-Man than... I don't know, an enjoyable cartoon.

This throws in a soul sucker bullet for added drama. I'll buy reincarnation, but the magic bullet is pushing it. Bathhurst (Chiwetel Ejiofor) wants to annihilate the world because the plot needs a villain. Explanations set this up as a team of good versus bad, but really it's just Bathurst versus team Mark Wahlberg.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Bathhurst.

This doesn't answer what it's like to live forever. All it does is provide Evan skills when he needs them. We see the Artisan, a super rich hedonist. How does he accumulate his wealth when he has to start over each life? How does have the recollection of so many lives affect someone? Bathurst is the closest we have to someone that's jaded, but he's relegated to over the top megalomaniac.

This is a mindless action movie trying to masquerade as something deeper. The reincarnation angle is superficial. This doesn't answer any questions of how. It's just a save the world trope.