"Replicas" Movie Review

If you had the means and knowledge to bring someone you loved back from the dead, would you? That's the question the film asks throughout, sparking the philosophical and moral debates of what one could do versus what one should do. Sometimes that gray area between the two is where you may inadvertently find yourself, causing you to question everything you thought you knew.

The film follows synthetic biologist Will Foster who has been working on a project for Bionyne, a mysterious lab looking into advancing humans and robots alike. How, you may ask? By finding a way to transfer a human mind into a robot's mind in order to preserve the dead and keep them alive forever. Will almost has a breakthrough but fails. He and his wife Mona agree that getting away for the weekend could help him clear his mind and relax a little. Tragedy strikes, a falling tree slamming into their car, killing Mona and the three kids. Will decides to use the tech at his lab to clone his family, bringing them back from the dead but also bringing the US government to his doorstep.

I loved the idea the film presented. Considering how far and how fast technology has been advancing, the premise isn't far off from the truth. Cloning is already a possibility in today's world. Robots have been created for decades. So how far off are we really from being able to put a human consciousness into a machine?

Keanu Reeves is always a winner in acting and performance. There are moments when you can feel the burden his character carries, making one wonder if Keanu's just projecting his own life burdens into his work. The gorgeous Alice Eve takes control of every scene she's in, showing real progress in her career. John Ortiz, however, proves once again that he's definitely been typecast into one specific type of role. That's all right, though, because he's great at what he does.

I'm not sure how scientifically accurate the film is, but regardless, it's near-perfect. The only complaint I have is the CGI. The only "visual effect" in the film was the robot and he looked like he belonged in a SyFy channel direct-to-TV film. There's no reason why that thing couldn't have looked and moved more realistically.

In conclusion, I highly enjoyed the film. I think it's been getting low ratings because the ads make it look like Keanu's next Matrix or something. Replicas is more of a drama and even a romance in a certain light. This is, above all, a love story about a man who would defy all odds and natural laws to get his family back, even if that means risking his own freedom. I give Replicas a 3 out of 4.