PREDESTINATION (2014)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Ethan Hawke is a Temporal Agent, a time-travelling agent from a secret police agency (the Temporal Bureau) sent to prevent specific crimes from the past without intruding or communicating with others, only with the event itself and the criminal. One truly horrific and traumatizing event has to do with a New York City Terrorist, known as the Fizzle Bomber, who leveled a few city blocks and killed 10,000 people. John's mission is to prevent this disaster from happening. It is also his mission to be a bartender in 1970 and expect a customer to walk in, a somewhat androgynous customer named John (Sarah Snook) who has quite a story to tell. John's story deals with growing up as an exceptionally bright orphan, bareknuckle fighting kids in school, proving to excel in all studies and eventually recruited to the Space Corps before being let go due to, nope, can't reveal it. In fact, I can't say much more because ruining a movie's triumphant designs on time-travel logic is the last thing on my mind.
Directed with whiplash intensity by the Spierig Brothers ("Daybreakers"), "Predestination" flows with great velocity like a coiled snake that unravels slowly, surprising us at every turn with unexpected results. I can state without spoiling anything that Hawke's Temporal Agent carries a briefcase that is actually a time machine itself, and it allows the agent to vanish into thin air and arrive at the destination, albeit slightly discombobulated for a few minutes. There are always safe houses with money and clothes from the period (excellent touch). Beyond that, if you have read Heinlein's short story or not, there are some differences. For one, Heinlein's story doesn't have a Fizzle Bomber and thus it lacks the hero's actual dilemma that takes identity and paradoxes further than intended. This is one of those times where I can say that the movie is an improvement on the already superb and intimate literary source.
Sarah Snook is a revelation as John, communicating empathy, sympathy and a real emotional core. His identity is put to the test with a final twist that can't easily be anticipated, asking the age-old question we all ask sometimes - not so much why I am here but who am I. Ethan Hawke has matured into a hard-edged, charismatic leading man - he is no longer the slacker type of movies like "Reality Bites" or the nervous student of "Dead Poets Society." With this film, "Boyhood" and "Training Day" among others in the last fifteen years, Hawke has crafted a persona of grace, understated humor and rugged good looks - he is an accomplished, unsung actor and a refined movie star.
You might be scratching your head for days after watching "Predestination" but you will not easily forget it. I am not sure I can wholly accept the time-travel scenario with its final twist but maybe that is less important than I realized. "Predestination" is a film about understanding and accepting your place in the world, and realizing there are changes that can be made. Not everything is predestined.
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