Critic Reviews
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Derek Adams, Time Out
There's a sense of treading water about this movie.
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Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Without ever quite becoming boring, Paycheck seems to narrow into a routine pattern, and a plot that at first had nuance and the hint of a broader meaning degenerates into chases and standard action.
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Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You may not buy everything about this movie, but you'll likely leave it with a smile.
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Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
If a movie is going to flout, or at least bend, the laws of the universe, it at least ought to obey its own internal rules.
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Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
[Woo] still has pretty much of a tin ear for American performances, so he lets Affleck doze through the starring role. The film feels as if it has no center.
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Claudia Puig, USA Today
Though the premise is provocative enough, the execution feels like a host of other violent action-drenched movies.
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John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
Woo's stylish touches fall flat in this forgettable project
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Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
This movie just sags, even in the action scenes.
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Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
It's not necessarily high brow sci-fi, but it is very accessible to the mainstream eye.
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John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Paycheck takes two hours to watch and two minutes to forget.
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Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Playful but inconsequential...the interpretation of Dick's intriguing concept is a street which mostly just dead-ends into noisy silliness. [Blu-ray]
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"Paycheck" is a no-brainer action movie with just enough sci-fi thematic input to keep it spicy.
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Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
Most of it is very predictable and so obvious and instantly draws us away from the characters because everything here feels very artificial and very staged.
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Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
For those who enjoy a ripper of a good yarn, Paycheck is good value.
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Adam Smith, Empire Magazine
Some remedial script work is in need, and the characters are far from compelling. But the action is up to scratch and it rattles happily along.
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Chris Barsanti, Film Threat
It's nice to know that there's a director out there who still knows how to use marquee stars and to blow stuff up real good, without resorting to CGI fakery.
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KJ Doughton, Film Threat
Paycheck is John Woo lite.
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Jason Zingale, Bullz-Eye.com
A mildly entertaining slice of science fiction that's anchored by some top-notch action.
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Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
The film discards serious discussion for Mexican standoffs and action scenes, trading the possibility of complex rewards for simple pleasures.
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Tony Medley, tonymedley.com
This could have been a terrific movie. Unfortunately, Paramount and Director John Woo (who was responsible for the lamentable Windtalkers), ruined it by prolific special effects.
Read all 25 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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Another classic Philip K. Dick story is brought to the big screen only this time its been 'Woo'd'. To be very very honest this is pretty much a poor mans 'Minority Report' with a bad cast, accept for the big chinned Eckhart, why this short story has not been… More
Another classic Philip K. Dick story is brought to the big screen only this time its been 'Woo'd'. To be very very honest this is pretty much a poor mans 'Minority Report' with a bad cast, accept for the big chinned Eckhart, why this short story has not been given the same care as 'MR' I don't know.
The film plays out with Affleck (yes -_-) as a 'reverse engineer' who...actually I still have no idea really what he is suppose to do in his role, all I know is it involves having his memory wiped after he's done each job but this time he has been used and set up by the evil Eckhart.
Cue allot of running around, guns blazing everywhere, your typical Woo car/motorbike chase with standard silly slow motion stunts and of course your typical standard Woo point blank face off...or Mexican standoff. The concept for the film is pretty neat, not totally original in today's film world but it has promise, unfortunately like 'M.I.2' Woo was totally the wrong director for such a decent sci-fi story.
The whole thing looks bad, especially during the finale which looks like its been filmed on a set from the 60's Batman TV show, plus the acting is poor and hammy from almost everyone. Its all too predictable and quite simply its been done allot better with other films.
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Not a fan of Ben Affleck or Uma Thurman at all but what I saw was ok. I like the twists and turns as I tried to figure out what had happened to him. At times it felt rather slow and lethargic which ruined the atmosphere. Not something I'd watch again but a good watch for anyone… More
Not a fan of Ben Affleck or Uma Thurman at all but what I saw was ok. I like the twists and turns as I tried to figure out what had happened to him. At times it felt rather slow and lethargic which ruined the atmosphere. Not something I'd watch again but a good watch for anyone interested in Philip K. Dick and time travel stories.
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'Paycheck' is a film that simply does not know what it is and simply doesn't care. I say that because despite a promising premise, the audience has no idea what is going on through this cluttered mess of a film, and we just don't care at all for the protagonist,… More
'Paycheck' is a film that simply does not know what it is and simply doesn't care. I say that because despite a promising premise, the audience has no idea what is going on through this cluttered mess of a film, and we just don't care at all for the protagonist, played well but unmotivated by an aging Affleck. I guess if you are into these weird, retroactive and hip films, then go ahead. If you are apart of a mainstream audience, rent Dogma, Affleck's better film.
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I had a hard time giving this the rating that I felt it deserved. There ARE some things going for this film. A nice diverse cast of people I generally like and admire, the screenplay was based off of a short story by Phillip K. Dick, there are parts of the score that I really… More
I had a hard time giving this the rating that I felt it deserved. There ARE some things going for this film. A nice diverse cast of people I generally like and admire, the screenplay was based off of a short story by Phillip K. Dick, there are parts of the score that I really enjoyed, and finally, there were some decent action set pieces and moments. The latter being nothing on the scale of Woo's previous action masterpieces, but pulled off pretty well making for some somewhat exciting moments. However, it all seems to go wrong. The plot itself is just barely coherent (if at all) and the acting from the two main headliners is, well, pretty bad. Affleck is notorious for being a bad actor, but I don't think that's entirely fair. He's not an altogether terrible actor because if he's given the right part with proper direction, he can turn in good performances. This is not the case with this film, however. I really wanted to like this. I found it really cheap at a dirt mall and was looking forward to seeing it once I got it home, but unfortunately it turns out to be a letdown. So what I think I'll do is be thankful that I didn't pay much for it and immediately have a back-to-back double feature of Blade Runner and Hard Boiled (just to remember that Dick's stories CAN be made possible and John Woo CAN make great action films).
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Another mindless action thriller from John Woo. There is very little energy put into a coherent plot or even one that appears to have a meaning aside from crazy effects shots. The performances are almost laughable and its not even entertaining.
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Some guys in suits, who don't read books, make a lot of money and Mr Dick keeps on rolling!
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this movie is a little silly. the performances look fake, the story is tied together extremely loosely and affleck is once again boring
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"One big paycheck. You're done."
"Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Minority Report". All of the before mentioned are based on Philip K. Dick's stories just as this movie. Those three are great movies. "Paycheck" is not.
John… More
"One big paycheck. You're done."
"Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Minority Report". All of the before mentioned are based on Philip K. Dick's stories just as this movie. Those three are great movies. "Paycheck" is not.
John Woo, the director, may have had a great past in action movies but since he started making movies in Hollywood, his career has gone on the wrong tracks. Now, he's back in Hong Kong, hopefully making better movies. I guess why I wrote this segment is that I'm trying to say that he was the wrong man for the job. He's too inconsistent. "Black Jack" - "Face/Off" should prove my point.
The story itself is interesting but pretty much everything with Dick's name on is worth taking a look. The story develops nicely and there ain't any bigger problems with the pacing.
All it needs, for a 'what may look good' movie to turn bad, is a single scene. And that scene in this movie is the chase scene where Ben Affleck's character, who has a motorcycle, is trying to get away from the bad guys, who are driving cars. I just can't figure it out, why can't they get away with a motorcycle during rush hour? Why is he driving 50 mph when he could do it in style and drive 150?
Rest of the action scenes are a bit beneath average. Like the final scene where Affleck takes the final steps to save his future. Somehow a computer engineer suddenly turns into a skilled super agent guy thingy...
Pretty much everything with "Paycheck" was a disappointment in the end. Even Uma Thurman! And yes, there are the John Woo trademarks in the movie; slow mo flying birds, exploding barrels, calm music during the action scenes...
"Wait, I remember these birds... "
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A futuristic Sci-fi/Action film which has it?s interesting plot moments, I?m usually not much of a fan of Ben Affleck, but he seems to do ok here. The envelope idea, of course holds the interest of the audience and although this is a futuristic tale, the storyline tells more like a… More
A futuristic Sci-fi/Action film which has it?s interesting plot moments, I?m usually not much of a fan of Ben Affleck, but he seems to do ok here. The envelope idea, of course holds the interest of the audience and although this is a futuristic tale, the storyline tells more like a time travel story.
A very watchable film, with limited brain work required.
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A smart, stylish, thrilling, brulliant an exhilerating edge of your seat thriller thats loaded with mind-blowing suspense and spectacular action. A very intelligent and enjoyable piece of action movie fun. Director, John Woo crafts a dazzeling mystery that unfolds nicely with lots of… More
A smart, stylish, thrilling, brulliant an exhilerating edge of your seat thriller thats loaded with mind-blowing suspense and spectacular action. A very intelligent and enjoyable piece of action movie fun. Director, John Woo crafts a dazzeling mystery that unfolds nicely with lots of excitment.
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In terms of pacing, it feels like the PKD story it derives from, but on every other level it disappoints, creating too clean a world with too much stilted acting to work out.
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It's not...very interesting.
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Fantastic futuristic thriller that combines spectacular action with a spellbinding mystery of what director John Woo made. Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman are very coooool team-up in their actions including car/motorcycle chases and fight scenes!
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Loses momentum half way through movie.
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A good action film by John Woo. Has some cool effects and the way the story unravels as Ben Affleck uses his random objects to good use after having his memory erased is good fun. Will have to watch again sometime!
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Let's see. You take a portion of Total Recall, and a touch of Terminator 2, and a soupcon of Memento, simmer for 90 minutes, and you get...a really lame rip off of Minority Report. At end of the day, it's impossible to care about two characters you know absolutely nothing… More
Let's see. You take a portion of Total Recall, and a touch of Terminator 2, and a soupcon of Memento, simmer for 90 minutes, and you get...a really lame rip off of Minority Report. At end of the day, it's impossible to care about two characters you know absolutely nothing about, apart from they're supposed to be "the good guys". ESPECIALLY if one of them's Ben Affleck.
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I still have doubts that John Woo actually directed this movie and what a rarity that a Phil K. Dick story doesn't work well. An interesting story that isn't taken anywhere special, too bad.
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A big let down, took 2 attempts to sit all the way through it.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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