Reminiscence

Hugh Jackman searches his own memories to find out what happened to his love, Rebecca Ferguson, but he may not be prepared for what he finds. Lisa Joy delivers a visually appealing combination of science fiction and noir that perhaps borrows too much from other films, but the two hours pass unexpectedly pleasantly. (08/25/2021)

This is definitely not another Inception! But even so, Reminiscence managed to keep me genuinely entertained. You can see the hefty budget in every shot of the film, and in this regard, the viewer has nothing to complain about; the scenes of flooded Miami are at times breathtaking! Initially, I was put off by the romantic subplot, but Hugh Jackman's charismatic performance completely overshadowed that. The alluring Rebecca Ferguson also shone in her supporting role; the chemistry between them was amazing! There isn't a lot of action, just one mediocre shootout and a luxurious fight at the end. Still, the lack of this aspect manages to keep the viewer glued to their seat because the detective plot itself was well done. So why am I leaning towards a rather average three stars? I was bothered by the fact that Lisa Joy didn't explain the background story to the viewers, at least not to any extent; we only get hints in dialogues (the sinking of London, some vague war?), which is quite disappointing. Even so, I can probably recommend it, just don't expect a groundbreaking spectacle. 6.5/10 (09/07/2021)

There’s something to the vision of a flooded Miami in a noirish coat of night-time lighting, with a bumbling love-struck Jackman infatuated with the beautiful femme fatale Rebecca. It brings to mind Blade Runner and Sin City, and Rebecca singing on stage in a red dress even brings back memories of the animated Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. But the potential for a nice, touching love story is cut off at the knees by the film’s clumsy and uninteresting detective storyline, which also diminishes the significance of the interesting formalistic stylization. (10/19/2021)

A clever noir crime movie about memories embedded in a (future) sunken Miami, suffers from being too fragmented. Lisa Joy knows what she wants to say, but lacks the ability to tell a story that her husband and brother-in-law have. She’s a bit more of a copy-cat than them. The story would benefit from dark, dirty visuals. The polished post-apocalyptic Miami is too pretty to make Jackman depressed. More blood would help, R-rating is a must with any good noir movie, this is too clean. But despite all that, I give it a thumbs up and I’m sorry that it bombed in the movie theaters. Lisa definitely deserves another chance. P.S.: Rebecca Ferguson was simply born to play divine femmes fatales. (08/26/2021)

I appreciate the attempt at a distinctive old-school neo-noir set against a specific futuristic backdrop, but unfortunately Reminiscence doesn't work as a satisfying cinematic spectacle and drags tremendously. I myself barely finished it for the third time, and this genre is practically "for me". You could see the effort, but it didn't work. (06/16/2022)