By Braden Kay / Staff Writer

Road Trip through time (Summit Entertainment)

By Braden Kay / Staff Writer

In the movie “Source Code” futuristic possibilities are explored  to prevent a terrorist bombing and possibly reverse events that have already occurred.  

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, an Air Force helicopter pilot, who was deployed in Iraq.  However, he awakes on a train headed to Chicago in another man’s body.  

After eight minutes on the train, a bomb is detonated killing everyone on the train. Stevens then wakes up inside a capsule.  

Upon waking in the capsule he meets  Colleen Goodwin  (Vera  Farmiga) who explains his situation.

Eventually, Stevens finds out that he is supposed to find the bomber on the train, because it was one in a series of planned attacks.

He becomes emotionally attached to a woman on the train named Christina (Michelle Monaghan).

This leads him to want to save the people on the train, in addition to finding the bomber.  

The plot folds out in a similar fashion to “Groundhog Day,” as Stevens goes through the last eight minutes on the train many times.

While this might seem redundant, each time on the train is interesting and different enough that it keeps from getting stale.

Unfortunately, going into detail about what the source code is would contain pivotal plot spoilers from the film.  

The story line is very solid and keeps the audience intrigued from start to finish.

There are various twists throughout the film including a couple large ones.  

Although many of the twists as well as the identity of the bomber were predictable, the movie was crafted amazingly well, with science fiction tones woven into a plot grounded solidly in reality.  

This is not surprising since Duncan Jones is an excellent director with movies like “Moon” on his resume.

However,  this movie lacks the depth and emotional impact that “Moon” has.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is thoroughly developed throughout the film.

There are multiple levels to his character and the audience gets to view him going through many different emotions.  

However, Stevens is the only developed character; the rest are one dimensional.  

Gyllenhaal’s performance was solid but far from Academy Award worthy.

As far as cinematography goes “Source Code” is relatively solid.  There are a couple awkward jump cuts and an unnecessary slow motion scene.

However, overall the movie was well shot and enjoyable.

“Source Code” is a well thought out and executed science fiction thriller. It delivers excitement and an interesting story.

Even though the story is similar to other movies and television shows it is different enough to feel fresh and new.