Duration: 2h 9m
Watched: TV(Unedited)
The Manchurian Candidate follows up with a couple of soldiers after a traumatic incident in the Gulf War. The unit was taken by surprise by the enemy and suffered a couple of casualties. Despite the chaos Sergeant Raymond Shaw took over command from his CO, who was rendered unconscious, and led his unit to safety. Or so everyone is led to believe. Even though everyone of the survivors knows this story to be true, they still have their doubts; seeing the same bizarre dreams repeatedly with astounding accuracy. Surely it could just be PTSD?
We pick up this story from the perspective of Major Ben Marco. An old squad mate comes to him seeking help with a lot of the same issues Marco himself has, but are kept hidden. His life has not been quite what we might call normal since his departure from the Gulf War Theater. Wanting to find more answers he starts to investigate further. This rabbit hole leads to a world of nightmares fueled by people who will do whatever it takes to get their way in the world.
The basic plot above was pretty interesting to me. I must confess I knew a little bit more about the plot before seeing this for the first time due to it being a remake of an older movie and a pop culture reference of sorts. Safe to say that the plot is sinister and intriguing. Perhaps a bit outlandish, yes, but also fascinating. There is a lot to learn throughout the film and each new bit of information is exciting. The pacing seemed just fine and the movie moved right along without any particular dead zones.
I think the cast did pretty well for their respective roles. Everyone who was involved in the aforementioned incident acts noticeably sketchy, paranoid, and weird. I did not notice anyone phoning it in. On the other hand, nothing really stood out either. The supporting cast was also very adequate and helped to keep an already zany universe together.
Conclusion
This is a pretty cool movie. I have not seen the original but perhaps, one day, I might. Just to see how they compare with one another. The cast was great and believable. I had no points of boredom.
If I had any issues with the plot it would be that the very plot itself was a sort of fix-all. Which is not to say it is bad, it was just convenient. However, it probably could not be done any other way. There is also a lot of stuff on the side that gets buried and is left unexplained. It's not totally relevant to the main plot but I would still like some kind of resolution.
Recommendation
If you like crazy plots and mysteries you should probably look into this. I like these sorts of things so I really enjoyed The Manchurian Cadidate.
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