Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
Hypnotic is not a good movie. Despite the story being a passion project for director and writer Robert Rodriguez, the final product is nothing more than a forgettable science fiction mystery headlined by an actor who is giving 20% of his best effort.
“A detective investigates a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.”
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writers: Robert Rodriguez, Max Borenstein
Staring: Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, Jeff Fahey, Jackie Earle Haley, William Fichtner
Release Date: May 12, 2023
IMDB
Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) is a down in the dumps cop trying to carry-on with life knowing that his daughter Minnie is missing. Danny’s marriage has crumbled and the only thing he can do to make the day go by is work.
While working a bank heist, Danny meets an eerie man named Lev Dellrayne (William Fichtner) who seemingly has the ability to control people’s minds and make them commit heinous crimes. While working the heist and dealing with that new evil, Danny finds a clue regarding the whereabouts of his daughter, leading him to a fortune teller Diana Cruz (Alice Braga).
Danny and Diana come to the realization that they themselves are powerful hypnotists trained by a secret government organization in the hopes to create a superweapon known as the “Domino”. Turns out that Dellrayne is looking for the “Domino” because it was stolen from the division, resulting in Danny and Diana both racing against the evil looking gentleman to find said weapon.
Hypnotic has plenty of twists and turns in its final act. Secret identities and motives are revealed, but the shocking truth about “Domino” shakes both Danny and Diana more than anything. The down-on-his-luck cop began the story depressed looking for his daughter and by the end he is dealing with cataclysmic decisions while battling with a secret government organization revolving around weaponizing hypnotism.
That is the umbrella version of the plot, and that is all you need to know.
Hypnotic is not a good movie. Despite the story being a passion project for director and writer Robert Rodriguez, the final product is nothing more than a forgettable science fiction mystery headlined by an actor who is giving 20% of his best effort.
The process of making Hypnotic was a slog and a half. In 2021, Rodriguez mentioned that he had begun writing this script all the way back in 2002. Over the years he tinkered and struggled to find financial backing, but in 2018 he found backing with Studio 8. Unfortunately the production company didn’t make it long, and by 2019 another new distributor Solstice Studios was lending Hypnotic further financing.
After COVID delays in 2020, production finally got underway in 2021, though things got hairy when Solstice Studios shut its doors. Hypnotic had finished its principal photography but now had no one to distribute it and there were doubts as to whether or not it’d ever be seen by the world. Eventually the film was set to release in May 2023 with Ketchup Entertainment lending its helping hand.
The timing of the release was meant to latch onto the success of Air (2023). Honestly, not a terrible idea. But just because ideas are good doesn’t mean they work. It was an airball with the majority of the movie going public not knowing it was even happening. Far more eyes were on a barefoot Nike CEO coveting the eyes of Michael Jordan.
Ben Affleck is sleeping walking through Hypnotic. Maybe Affleck thought that because the movie involves hypnotism, such an approach would be a deep version of method acting. However, nothing about the movie allows any benefit of the doubt.
Affleck is not good, but do we need to talk about Robert Rodriguez? Is he good? The man bet known for crazy action like From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and inventive stories like The Faculty (1998) and Sin City (2005) has not had a great stretch. In 2019 Alita: Battle Angel surprised many, including myself, and then one year later he made a banging episode of The Mandalorian.
The highs are high, but the lows are so low. The Book Of Boba Fett was not a good television show, even if you are a die-hard Stars Wars fan. Hypnotic was panned and forgettable. Rodriguez is the face of the Spy Kids franchise, and after the first movie, none of four (Yes, FOUR) have been critically or financially well-received.
Is Robert Rodriguez the Gabe Davis of Hollywood directors? When he does it well, it’s great, but when it goes bad, it’s really horrific. It’s 27.6 points with 150 yards and a touchdown, or a complete goose egg.
With only negative things to say about Hypnotic thus far, let’s drive into some of the positive attributes.
I am never upset to see Alice Brage on my screen. I remember her most from Predators (2010), which is probably very nice. Braga brings a sense of competence to the actors I have seen her play. I can believe she can work her way out of a situation, or punch her way out. She is far more intimidating in Hypnotic than Affleck is, that’s for sure.
ALso, can we all just agree that William Fichtner is the Prison Break guy? The man exudes evilness with just a glare, and he is damn good at it. Has he ever played a good guy? Or a non morally ambiguous guy? Fichtner is perfectly adequate in Hypnotic, and he is a face that is impossible to forget. Affleck has worked with Fichtner once before, back in 1998 with Armageddon.
That’s about all it for the positive side of things.
If you want to watch Hypnotic, as of December 2023, it is streaming on Peacock. If you want to watch a better Robert Rodriguez movie, turn on Desperado (1995) on Netflix. I watched Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek be sexy fire pistols and thought I’d give Rodriguez’s latest adventure a chance. Unfortunately, Hypnotic lulled me to sleep and made sure I barely remember anything about it. Both Desperado and Hypnotic do have one thing in common, and if you spot it, then props to you.
P.S. There is a mid-credits scene. I had no idea. I shut it off. I still haven’t seen it to this day.
STANKO RATING: D
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