In 2079, Earth has been losing a war with aliens from Alpha Centauri for 10 years. The success of the Centaurians and their ability to create human-like robots create a climate of fear and paranoia on Earth, leading to the establishment of a totalitarian regime headed by a Chancellor.
The film starts with physicist Dr. Spencer Oldham (Gary Sinise), a high-ranking scientist in a government weapons organisation, putting the final touches on a new weapon against the Centaurians, and the Chancellor due to pay a visit to the facility. Unexpectedly, Oldham is arrested by Major Hathaway (Vincent D'Onofrio), who accuses him of being a Centaurian robot created to assassinate the Chancellor. Oldham escapes from Hathaway, but cannot turn to either his wife Maya (Madeline Stowe) or his best friend Nelson (Tony Shalhoub) for help. Instead, he flees to a devastated part of the city, where he meets Cale (Mekhi Phifer), a drug dealer, who he convinces to help him find evidence to prove that he is not a Centaurian. Meanwhile, Hathaway has organised a massive manhunt for Oldham in the city.
A surprisingly high-powered team of writers, Scott Rosenberg, Ehren Kruger, David Twohy and Caroline Case, adapted the 1953 short story, 'Imposter' by Philip K. Dick, for the screen. Gary Sinise (who was also a producer) gives Olham's character more depth than a typical hero in an actioner. Maybe they are fans of PKD, because they have kept many elements of the short story, the back story and the themes of identity and paranoia, while embellishing it with just enough flash to appeal to mainstream audiences.
This is not an out-and-out great film, though. The back story is revealed clumsily and you have to tolerate the obligatory sex scene before the action starts. It also seems to suffer from a limited budget and bland production design that makes it look like a TV feature rather than a cinema release.
A solid SF thriller.
3 out of 5 stars.
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