Predestination

Predestination is based on a short story, and it shows. They added some things that weren't in the story, but it's not enough. The framework of the original idea is really all that's there, and it wasn't worth my time. I was expecting a flashier action/fantasy-type movie, and it turned out to be straight drama. 

The trailer for Predestination made it seem like it would be all futuristic, but a weird 40s-style future, and flashy and exciting with the way they do the time jumps, like an action/fantasy movie. But it was actually pure drama; borderline boring drama. It was such a narrative. I wasn't surprised at all to find out it was based on a short story. It had a real "short story" feel to it. I don't think they had enough here to make a movie out of, even though they added things that weren't in the story. I feel slightly disenfranchised being sold a movie that turned out to be a short story, now that I think about it.

Jane's makeup as John was bizarre and distracting. I knew from the opening scene that whoever was shooting at the person disarming the bomb was a time agent, and possibly John, because I saw his watch. I'm still pretty confused about the events that happened there, though, with the bomber, Jane-John and the Barkeep all being there at the same time. Everybody turned out to be John to the extent that I thought his boss was going to be him, and even the lady in the antiques store seemed like she could be him with the way she was talking to him.

I like that the bomber warned John not to get involved with her. That would be cool, having your future self around to tell you which decisions didn't work out. I figured out that Jane-John was the Barkeep way before they revealed it. It was obvious that he was going to be someone we knew from the comments at the beginning, that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him, and that his vocal cords weren't going to heal the same way. Pretty convenient for the story that Jane-John got her face blown off. And I suspected John was probably the bomber for a long time, too.

I was confused at the end about whether the final bombing would take place or not since the bomber was dead. Apparently people on the internet don't know for sure, either. There's a theory that it never happened in the first place and the agency just pretended it did in order to create John. Or that the bomber was about to set off a bomb that would've prevented the major bombing, and when John killed him, he wasn't able to do it. That seems like a likely explanation.

It's kind of weird to think about it all being the same person. I would've loved to have seen a commentary. Even watching it again probably would be worthwhile. I couldn't believe they changed Jane's sex without even asking her. I bet stuff like that happened, though. I don't think I would've gone along with it if I were her. I'd just keep acting like a woman. It would complicate things with getting married, but she had probably given up on that by then, anyway.

The fact that Jane didn't recognize herself as a man is a little hard to believe. She pretty much looked exactly the same. And that haircut wasn't very masculine. I guess she was supposed to have not liked looking in the mirror anymore, but she was wearing makeup. I doubt she put that on without a mirror. I always notice people's hands, and I'm pretty familiar with my own hands. I would definitely notice if someone had the exact same hands as I do.

I did like learning about the mechanism of this version of time travel, though, and Ethan Hawke did a good job.