We’re in a strange pandemic timeframe where new movies are few and far between and those that are released may simultaneously go to screen and streaming services. I’m curious if, once we get over the pandemic hump, the watch-from-home options will continue (I suspect they will). This weekend, I found myself pleased to find a new sci-fi offering with A-list actors available on HBO Max.
Hugh Jackman in the sci-fi noir flick, Reminiscence
Reminiscence is set in a near-future where climate change has caused ocean levels to rise and made daytime temperatures unbearable. As a result, Miami has turned into a Venice-like Sunken Coast, with boats ferrying people between neon-lit skyscrapers. To avoid the heat, people are awake at night and sleep during the day. Many people want an escape from their dreary existence and Hugh Jackman’s character, Nick, offers them just that. He and Thandiwe Newton (Watts) have a very Minority-Reportish business that involves clients laying down in a water tank while holographic projectors visualize their favorite memories. Hugh Jackman acts as a hypnotist, verbally leading clients along a path to find their memory, while Thandie operates the equipment. They record the memories for legal (aka “plot”) reasons and store them in a bank vault. The plot kicks in when Rebecca Ferguson, who plays femme fatale Mae, shows up asking for help retrieving a specific memory. Hugh Jackman is captivated by Mae, falls for her, and makes it his personal mission to discover what plot she’s entwined.
Just about every review you’ll read on Reminiscence points out that it’s derivative of other well-known sci-fi movies, and I’ll follow suit. The water tank and hologram are very much Minority Report.
Hugh Jackman in the water tank in Reminiscence
Agatha in the water tank in Minority Report
Hugh Jackman peeps through Rebecca Ferguson’s memories in Reminiscence
Tom Cruise relives a memory from when times were better in Minority Report
The idea of having a recording of someone’s memory that the bad guys want is right out of Strange Days.
One of Strange Day’s memories, saved on Mini Disc. Well, it was 1999.
Hugh Jackman guiding people through their memories reminds me of Leonardo Dicaprio guiding people through their dreams in Inception.
Visually and thematically, Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson’s relationship is very much like Blade Runner’s Ford and Young, complete with foggy, atmospheric interior shots with gold light shining in through windows.
Blade Runner’s sci-fi noir atmosphere
Reminiscence’s sci-fi noir atmosphere
The visuals for Miami’s Sunken Coast are quite good, and I enjoyed the nighttime-only city on the water views. Some reviewers have compared it to Waterworld, but I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. I found the visualizations to be original and interesting, and one of the better components of the movie.
It’s also worth noting that Reminiscence is a bit of a Westworld reunion, with the director, Lisa Joy, and two actresses Thandiwe Newton and Angela Sarafyan.
Thandiwe Newton in Reminiscence
Angela Sarafyan in Westworld
So, what to make of Reminiscence? It’s a convoluted sci-fi noir film with a detective, femme fatale, alcoholic partner, crime bosses, and a dark neon future. Like a gumshoe in 40s detective fiction, Nick offers voice-overs throughout the story. These aren’t necessarily bad elements - to become a trope, something must be enjoyable enough that audiences keep demanding it - and the similarity to other movies isn’t much of a deal-breaker for me. Certain themes, such as being able to record people’s memories, appear again and again in sci-fi, and exploring them isn’t a bad thing - but it does help if you have an interesting spin so that you’re not simply making a collage of other movies.
The main detractors for me in Reminiscence were:
The plot is convoluted, in the way that detective novels tend to be. There are crime bosses, henchman, devious heirs, prosecutors all wanting something and at times it feels like Nick is on a side-quest, leaving the viewer wondering where the movie is going. It’s the type of plot you’ll need to Google afterwards to determine how everyone was related to the storyline.
The plot is that Nick is obsessed with Mae and makes it his mission to track her down. From a stakes standpoint, he really could walk away at any time, and the bad guys don’t really care about him or even know who he is.
The two main action scenes (a shoot out at a crime boss’s club and a fist fight in a water-damaged hotel) were silly. The first was cartoonish and the second seemed to be a checklist of action scene tropes (have the fist-fighters roll down the stairway together, etc).
On Rotten Tomatoes, Reminiscence scored a 37%. I don’t think it was that bad. I’d probably score it a low 3 out of 5. I didn’t mind watching it and it was nice to have a new sci-fi movie to binge on a Saturday night, but it was (ironically) forgettable. I think the directing and acting were good but the writing and dialogue needed work. But, if you have HBO Max and are looking for something to watch, I say give it a go. It’s not a “I want my two hours back” kind of a movie, it’s a “there are ways it could have been better” kind of flick.