Antoine Fuqua directs Mark Wahlberg in Paramount Pictures Infinite. Ian Shorr writes the screenplay based on Todd Stein's story, who adapted D. Eric Maikranz's 2009 novel The Reincarnationist Papers.
For Evan McCauley (Mark Wahlberg), skills he has never learned and memories of places he has never visited haunt his daily life. Self-medicated and on the brink of a mental breakdown, Evan is sought by a secret group that calls themselves "Infinites," revealing to him that his memories may be real--but they are from multiple past lives.
The Infinites bring Evan into their extraordinary world, where a gifted few can be reborn with their memories and knowledge accumulated over past centuries. In a race against time to save humanity from one of their own, Bathurst (Chiwetel Ejiofor) seeks to end all life to stop what he views as the cursed, endless cycle of reincarnation. With critical secrets buried in his past, Evan must work with the Infinites to unlock the answers in his memories.
Infinite opens up with Heinrich Tredway (Dylan O'Brien) amid an exciting chase scene as he attempts to escape another version of Bathurst. It is a grand opening to the film and validates that director Fuqua has not lost a step when it comes to directing an action sequence. Much to my dismay, the film quickly goes downhill from there and may wind up as one of my worst movies of 2021.
After the opening, we met Wahlberg's Evan, who has just bombed a job interview. Needing some money, Evan makes a katana for a local baddie, and through a series of events, he ends up arrested. Before long, Evan meets the current Bathurst (Ejiofor), who lets him know that Evan is Tredway. Eventually, Evan meets up with the Infinites, and our plot is then in motion.
Now I wanted to like Infinite. You have Wahlberg reuniting with his Shooter director Antoine Fuqua and his Four Brothers co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor. While the plot is somewhat uninspired, I thought, why not. However, the primary three principles of Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and director Fuqua all scream, I am only here for a paycheck.
While the movie does have good action sequences, everything else in the film is a cluttered mess. Ian Shorr's script appears to try and be overly clever but fails. The sad thing is that there is a good movie in there somewhere, but the final product never reaches its full potential.
Perhaps Fuqua should have had used Dylan O'Brien as our lead. Furthermore, if I had not seen the similar The Old Guard last year, I would like the film more. If the directors and stars were looking to start another franchise, the mission fails.
Final Grade: D-
Infinite is streaming on Paramount Plus NOW
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