|
Earth is at war with a race of hostile aliens. The aliens
latest weapon is a robotic humanoid, undetectable from the
real thing, which is programmed to seek out its target and
explode. Spencer Olham is a weapons scientist who becomes
the latest suspect to be dragged in to be interrogated by
cold investigator D H Hathaway. After escaping Olham goes
on the run has to prove his innocence...
Set
in 2079, Impostor has all the hallmarks of a classic
Sci-fi movie. A bleak, almost film-noir, setting for the future
of mankind fits wonderfully up there with some of the best
Sci-fi movies on record - the whole production has certain
Bladerunner qualities. So it will be no surprise that
it is adapted from the short story by Philip K Dick - the
second movie recently to do so, Minority Report being
the slightly more palatable.
There
are some great scenes - including the holographic data recording
of the interrogation of a previous suspect. I say interrogation,
but in actual fact it is more like an assassination with the
suspect having their stomach drilled and their heart ripped
out - while they are still alive - as this is the only way
to tell if they are humans or not. Another nice touch sees
our hero have problems with the connection with his mobile
videophone - nice to see that technology is still unreliable
in the future.
We
are led to believe that the system used for bringing in suspects
is not 100% accurate as more than a handful of innocent humans
have been killed in the process. I did have a bit of a problem
with this. Surely, given the fact that the deed must be done,
and they know there is a slight chance that the suspect may
be innocent, wouldn't it be more humane to sedate the suspect
instead of have them plead for their life and then watch as
the drill cuts into their flesh? There may have been a reason
in the original screenplay, but I don't recall seeing it on
screen.
The
effects are above par and the set pieces are lovingly detailed.
The ending is so clearly signposted from early on that only
someone not of this planet will have a job working out how
it is all going to end up... or so I thought. While I managed
to work out the twist way too early, I was left reeling from
the fact that that was exactly what the director had intended
and then "Wham!" I was hit by the real twist.
An
above average Sci-fi movie which doesn't disappoint.
Ray
Thompson
|
