Merging With The Infinite Film

Infinite: Merging With the Infinite Film

Infinite is a science fiction thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor as immortal warriors who remember their past lives. Based on D. Eric Maikranz’s novel The Reincarnationist Papers, Infinite follows two factions of Infinites–good people called Believers and bad people called Nihilists–as they fight for their own interests.

Infinite presents an intriguing premise: In the future, there is a group of gifted souls who remember their past lives, divided into good and evil factions in a fierce struggle for humanity’s survival. In the film, Believers strive to use this knowledge for good while Nihilists wish to completely destroy humanity.

What truly sets Infinite apart as a film is its worldbuilding. Constructing this world of Infinites, divided between good and evil factions, requires extensive voiceover narration, explanations woven into conversations, and character development throughout. While director Antoine Fuqua does an admirable job at setting up this universe, too much exposition takes its toll.

It’s not surprising that Viacom-owned studio Viacom sold this big-budget, star-driven blockbuster to streaming platform Paramount+ without a theatrical release. After all, this same company sold The Tomorrow War, Coming 2 America and Without Remorse to Amazon Prime as well as Trial of the Chicago 7 to Netflix.

Streaming platforms are the new Hollywood tentpole powerhouses. They dominate summer blockbusters and provide an equally strong counterprogramming slate. But it can be difficult to tell whether a film’s quality has improved when it’s no longer released in theaters. That being said, streaming platforms do offer some advantages over physical distribution – Pixar’s Luca for Disney+ and Sony Animation’s Mitchells Vs. the Machines is available on Netflix as well.

Infinite’s issue is compounded by its status as a star-driven blockbuster. This same situation bedeviled the first Transformers movie, leading to an actioner that feels like an imitated version of The Matrix. Unfortunately, Infinite ultimately proves disappointingly uninspired.

Unfortunately, this film could have been much more captivating and entertaining had the cast and screenwriters been better. Furthermore, the narrative structure – introduction, action, resolution – is rather weak.

The film opens with Evan McCauley (Mark Wahlberg), narrating from an Infinite perspective. He reveals that he belongs to the Infinites, a society of immortal warriors who can remember their past lives. As the best among these Infinites, Evan has developed skills and abilities which he uses in order to defeat Bathurst (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

But the rogue Infinite is a Nihilist who wants to end all life, so he creates a device designed for that purpose. That’s what draws Evan to this mysterious figure in the first place – if he can access his memories, perhaps he can discover where Bathurst is concealing this device.

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