Paycheck (2003)

In Paycheck, a high-tech mercenary (Ben Affleck) performs "reverse engineering" to disassemble and duplicate (or even improve on) laser-display products from competitors of Alltech -- though as we see, Alltech pretty much considers the whole world to be its competitors when it comes to high-tech supremacy. To protect itself legally (as well as illegally), Alltech "wipes the memory" of our protagonist for the duration of his contract (usually two weeks). Never mind how they can do this -- they show his nerdy wallflower friend (Paul Giamatti) literally zapping individual synaptic memories like he's playing a video game! Then the schmoozy CEO (Aaron Eckhart) ups the ante with a tantalizing contract (three years, $98 million) but by the end of the project, he becomes a domineering "chief execute-if (anyone crosses him)." Never have you seen so many Blackwater-style corporate guards and agents shooting up the public streets and corporate halls of Seattle willy-nilly. Ben and his love interest (Uma Thurman, a botanical doctorate in Alltech's employ, this time as Poison Ivy's good twin with a bit of kickass Beatrice Kiddo thrown in) dodge and run through hailstorms of bullets and perform enough martial arts to thrown down all the bad guys by the end. The mystery plotline of Ben's alternate set of personal effects is what makes the movie most interesting. While John Woo's best is other directors' worst, Paycheck steadily shoulders its way through gaping plot holes and weak acting to deliver a handful of fun or memorable scenes -- plus plenty of chase scenes and pyrotechnic explosions. The science is as sloppy as in Ang Lee's The Hulk, but at least they tried. (Paycheck could have been The Minority Report for science, and nearly as disciplined as Mission: Impossible II for everything else. Live Free or Die is as wild with pyrotechnics but it's a smartass franchise -- it has an excuse!) The making-of featurette, mistitled "Designing the Future," prattles about Ben Affleck as the new Cary Grant (in looks, maybe, but never in charisma or screen presence). Even so, like Chain Reaction I did (mostly) enjoy catching Paycheck a second time. 3.5 stars.