Mark Reviews Movies: INFINITE

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 10, 2021

After discovering that he possesses the soul/consciousness of an ancient warrior who has lived multiple lives through reincarnation, our hero is told that things are about to get really weird. That's at least one promise that Infinite refuses to keep.

This movie's idea of "weird" is pretty, well, bland. Sure, the premise, which assumes reincarnation and memories of past lives as an absolute truth, is definitely intriguing, although one imagines practitioners of several religions wouldn't take too kindly to having it labeled as weird.

Beyond that, the actual purpose of this premise is about as ordinary as science-fiction or fantasy stories come. There are two factions of these people who have knowledge of their past lives. One wants to better humanity with the knowledge its members have collected over the centuries or longer. The other sees this knowledge as a curse and wants it to stop, believing that wiping out all of the meaningless life on Earth is the only way to achieve that goal.

The latter group of these "Infinites" is called "the Nihilists," which is simultaneously pretty obvious, of course, and, admittedly, kind of nifty. They definitely have the better name than the good guys: "the"—with a pause inserted to yawn—"Believers."

These groups have been battling for a long time, and we know that, not only from the flashes of past fights that our appropriately bland protagonist has throughout the movie, but also from assorted re-assertions in Ian Shorr's screenplay (adapted from D. Eric Maikranz's novel The Reincarnationist Papers—a title that's the "Nihilists" to the "Believers" of the movie's title). We get some opening voice narration, a redundant exposition dump after our hero is recruited to the Believers, and a lot more dialogue about all of the cool fights and big battles these souls have had since their philosophies and goals split.

In the modern-day lifetime of this plot, though, Evan (Mark Wahlberg) learns that he's special, that what has made him different is actually his greatest strength, that he has a destiny to fulfill, and all of that usual stuff we anticipate from a movie that's establishing a concept, a world, and a lot of back story to explain why a bunch of action sequences unfold. What makes Evan different, by the way, is that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, on account of his belief that he possesses the memories of other people's lives in his mind. If one needs an explanation as to why this feels more than a bit in bad taste, that person probably isn't going to understand it, anyway.

Evan ends up in the clutches of Ted (a scenery-chewing Chiwetel Ejiofor, sporting an indiscernibly villainous dialect), who was previously known as Bathurst and is the leader of the Nihilists, before being rescued by Tammy (Sophie Cookson), a member of the Believers. After a pretty destructive chase, she offers the first example of redundant exposition, emphasizing the faction, their ages-old battle, Bathurst's plan to destroy all life on the planet with a device called "the Egg," and Evan's past role as the only person who knows where the MacGuffin is.

If the Believers can un-block all of his memories, Evan will have powers beyond his wildest imaginings and be able to stop Bathurst. The plan also has the consequence of the villain getting the life-evaporating device, but since when do the plots of concept-focused movies have to possess any logic?

Logic isn't the point, and unfortunately, the potential of this premise isn't, either. The story fits squarely into a predictable, routine formula, as Evan and his fellow Believers (who have scant histories and even slighter characterizations) try to evade or fight Bathurst's goons. In between the action, the characters mostly talk about the central concept—and how strange and unique it allegedly is.

Director Antoine Fuqua does at least embrace an over-the-top philosophy with the action, to go along with the Infinites' various gadgets and, during the gravity-defying climax outside and inside a cargo plane, Evan's eventual abilities. Getting to those sequences, though, turns out to be a repetitive chore and filled with far too many obvious gaps in story logic (Bathurst, who has waited lifetimes to put an end to his misery of reincarnation, certainly does waste a lot of time in enacting his plan).

There is potential in this premise, and if Infinite really did want to "get weird," there's plenty of potential for that, too. Instead, all of those ideas are kept at length. After all, a concept that involves characters living out lives in different bodies during different periods of history is essentially a franchise-generating machine. The sequel-teasing finale shows the filmmakers know that, too.

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