Infinite

Stuck with an incomprehensible, half-baked idea and carried out with stale writing, mechanical acting, and relentless chase scenes and explosions, this sci-fi action movie is an almost total failure. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Infinite opens with expository narration about how some infinites (the "Believers") want to use their gifts for good, while others (the "Nihilists") want to destroy everything. About 20 minutes later, a character repeats this information, almost verbatim. But despite all that, the movie doesn't show how reincarnation works -- a character who seemingly died not long ago somehow becomes a 50-year-old Mark Wahlberg -- and only vaguely manages to explain why the villain wants to kill everyone.

If it's nearly impossible to figure out the point of it all, then it follows that the actors have no choice but to read their poorly written lines like robots and that Fuqua must fill the running time with as many meaningless stunts and car crashes as possible. Sometimes those things can be fun, but only if the movie itself has a sense of fun -- or a sense of its own dim-wittedness -- and Infinite has neither of those things. It plays as if everyone involved is just trying to get through it with as little effort as possible. The technical work (e.g., visual effects, sound, etc.) is all fine, but this dud suggests that Fuqua ought to stick to working with Denzel Washington (Training Day, The Equalizer 1 and 2, The Magnificent Seven, etc.).