Rating: 
Summary: No chemistry
Review: As has been mentioned before, this movie is based on a story by the same author that brought us Total Recall, Minority Report and Blade Runner..... big surprise..... you might have guessed that anyway even if you were not told this fact since these movies share a similiar theme.In fact even before I knew this information I had commented that PAYCHECK looked like a basic re-hash of the TOTAL RECALL movie. Anyway what killed this film for me was the following.... 1) NO CHEMISTRY
There was zero screen chemistry between Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman... they were very stiff acting in this film. 2) STUPID STUNTS
THe one thing I often dislike in Woo films is the stupid stunts.... for example in this film, drop the gun clip, kick it into an electric train rail, watch the clip explode, escape under the resulting smoke cover, etc.... GO ahead try this stunt tonight.
I bet you could try it 3000 times and NEVER get the gun clip to explode. Definately not a movie that will end up in our DVD collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much Woo, not enough suspense
Review: This is an adaptation of one of Phillip K. Dicks short stories about an engineer Micheal Jennings who specializes in "reverse engineering". As part of non-disclosure agreement Jennings he agrees to have his memory of whatever work performed wiped at the end of the project in echange for a very large paycheck. Micheals billionaire mogul friend Jimmy Rethrick offers Jennings "8 figures minimum" to undertake a 3 year project so secret that he had to have the entire 3 years of his memory wiped. He takes the job and after his wipe he finds that he forfeited $92 million in stock options and instead left himself an envelope full of innocuous objects which start proving handy to his survival almost immediately. There is a wonderful foundation of mystery here when he was first arrested, then someone tried to kill him. Objects from the envelope saving him at each turn. I should however have known not to expect too much from this movie, with John Woo directing. I should have known exactly what to expect: car crashes, a million rounds of ammo expended ( with no one hit), more car chases, more ammo, and just to keep the audience guessing - to my shock, something no one would have ever expected - a motorcycle chase. Who could have imagined? Somehow Jennings could not find the skill or the speed in a BMW motorcyce to outrun a Ford Crown Vic yet had not trouble evading an FBI helicopter. Man those Crown Vics really go. They fly and
explode well too - all in slow motion. I was expecting a taut psychological thriller with some action similar to Total Recall or Imposter ( other Phillip K. Dick adaptations) but what we get is a typical Woo. Set up a mysterious and intriguing scenario, sprinkle it with suspense and uncertaintly and begin an almost Hitchcock-ian style premise - then develop none of it. (Face Off and Windtalkers - other cases in point) In Woo movies, machine guns, bombs and car crashes are substituted for plot points. Despite all the shooting and blowing up I never really saw Jennings in great danger. The biggest concern I had for the hero was that all those flying bullets might muss up his hair requiring him to take a time out
for the "Queer Eye" guys to touch up his looks. Affleck went through the entire film with the same deadpad expression whether he had a gun to his head or was kissing the girl, He had the same perfectly coiffured hair - never one out of place no matter how many bullets zinged past him. Thankfully the girl brought him new clothes after he managed to get a 1" grease mark on his shirt after almost getting run over by a subway train. Jennings love interest played by Uma Thurmond was well cast, but there seemed to be no on screen chemistry between them. Their scenes together seemed passionless. If I were opposite Uma I can
guarantee you there would have been sparks at loeast from my side! ( in my dreams of course). With Jennings however, she was just another character along for the ride. I guess we can thankful that Woo resisted the temptation to include his signature "flying through the air in slow motion sideways while shooting from a pistol in each hand" stunts. I gave the movie an additional star just for that. Aaron Eckhart did a fine job as a villan albeit more of a comic book composite bad guy typical of Woo movies with no depth or personality. For a computer company he sure seemed to have a lot armed security guys around all willing to kill and die for $8.50/hour. I'd hate to see his Workers Comp premiums. It was okay as an action movie, but it missed so many opportunities to tease the audience with intrique and mystery like Verhooven did with Total Recall. In TR you really were never quite sure if it was real or a dream you were often led in both directions at the same time. This movie could have used elements like that to blow our minds and add so much depth to the story. Here, the "mystery" was pretty much obvious almost right away then lacking anything else interesting to do Woo started blowing things up. There were no significant plot twists to hold the audience and keep un in any suspense. To Woo, a plot twist is a villan using a pistol instead of a machine gun. There several 0pportunities to surprise us, but Woo ignored them all lighting off the submachine guns instead. The movie is by no means dull and boring I actually enjoyed it, even the ending ( both of them), but this film could have been so much more. I did think it was a waste of a perfectly good P.K. Dick story. With a few script revisions this could have easily been morphed into MI3 instead and Paycheck left to Paul Verhooven (Total Recall) or Gary Fleder (Imposter).
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as others have said...
Review: I must add that this movie isn't nearly as bad as you would think by relying on the ratings seen here and on other sites. In fact, its actually an above average movie that keeps you interested from beginning to end. Paycheck isn't the worst John Woo film nor is it the worst Philip K. Dick adaptation. I believe it is marginally better than Total Recall and certainly at least as enjoyable as Total Recall. It has the same re-watch value as Total Recall but the plot isn't nearly as complex as Minority Report (which must be rewatched to fully grasp the complexity). I believe most of the negative views of this film come from the over exposure of Ben Affleck. It's also hard to separate Uma from her performances in Kill Bill v1 and v2 and I think that can make her performance here seem poor. Overall, I think it would be a mistake to miss this one if you liked any of the other Philip K. Dick adaptations: Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report.
Rating:
Summary: an exciting, exhilerating, action adventure...
Review: that really satisfies! after all those negative reviews, i reluctantly purchased my copy on tuesday, and am now into my 3rd viewing! i guess when little is expected, the surprise factor can be so much better! i loved it-found all performances were very up to par here, as was the great cinematography and great 5.1 ac-3 sound. paramount has done an impeccable job here of making this a true collectors edition, and in no way was i let down! extremely exciting from beginning to startling finale, i found paycheck to be a rush of adrenalin and really really enjoyed it! watch it go straight to the top of the charts! a definite must see-must own.
Rating: 
Summary: A lot better than expected by other views.
Review: I found this movie a lot better then expected by reading other peoples reviews. By some of the reviews I expected it to awfull, but it was actual full of action and very interesting to watch. I guess if you are not technical minded, then I could see how you would not like or have personally don't like the actors. My advice, becare full by judging a movie by others opinions, yours is what is important.
Rating:
Summary: Paycheck
Review: I loved this movie. It was full of plot twists and alot of edge of your seat action.Kept me guessing. Buy this dvd,you'll love it too.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites, hands down
Review: I cannot possibly comprehend why others did not like this movie! I don't want to give away the plot, or any of the twists, so I will try my best to give a good review that doesn't do that. This movie continually has you thinking (thus, I don't understand the "leave your brain at home" comment). It deals with the future, and one man's foreknowledge of it, to "bend" it to his advantage. I am very intrigued by science (space-time), and thus, this movie really had me thinking. I really don't like movies that are just "entertaining"; I think they should evoke some thinking on the watcher's part...anyway, if you like action, suspense, and space-time stuff, I think you'll like this move - I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Leave Your Brain At Home
Review: Firstly, the director is John Woo who has the ability to make briliant films or crap, theres no middle ground. Mission Impossible 1 was very well done and had lots of twists, it kept me watching on the edge of my seat. MI2 was horribly generic, it was predictable and mindless, MI1 was clever and pleasantly confusing, Face Off was dijointed but also cleverly done. Woo, it seems, makes either generic Hollywood action or clever twisty plots. Paycheck falls into the first catagory, it is predictable. The plot is about an engineer, Ben Affleck who is hired to do a job, but his memory is erased. Predicting this might happen, he leaves himself clues and falls in love with Uma Therman who tries to help him. He also misses out on 90 million bucks due to Aron Eckhart, who he finally hunts down. So, it has potential, but nothing really gets going. Affleck doesnt do much acting, and the little he does is average, and Therman is nowhere near as good as she was in Kill Bill. The final scenes are the best bit, although its very predictable what will happen, its worth seeing. Leave your brain at home, dont really think about anything and lap up the action.
Rating:
Summary: Rubber Check
Review: Paycheck is another Sci-fi actioner, based on a short story from author Philip K. Dick, following the likes of Total Recall and Minority Report. I would say though, that this film, has the weakest execution of these adaptatiions. Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) is a well paid smart guy, who works freelance for high tech corporations, on different secret projects. After a job is completed, he has his memory wiped, to prevent any sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. When asked by his buddy Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart) to help out on a three year project, Jennings jumps at the chance, especially after being offered eight figures for his troubles. He gets more than he bargained for, once the job is done, and I don't mean a raise. Rather than his pay, all he gets is an envelope filled with random objects, and is told that he has agreed to forfeit all payment. Since his memory has been erased, Jennings must now discover what really happened. All he has to go on are the clues from the envelope. With the help of Rachel (Uma Thurman), his co worker and lover for the last three years, Jennings is now on the run from his previous employers, who want to kill him before he learns the truth and decides to expose it. Directed by John Woo, the film has many of the same bag of tricks, that are now standard in his movies. I am probably in the minority here, but I am so tired of seeing important stunts take place using slow motion. And just what is it with the use of the white doves? Yes, it's a strong symbol and all--must it always appear in a John Woo film? The director may know how to stage action and martial arts stuff, but the scenes of exposition seem to be quite flat. Speaking of flat, Affleck continues to prove that he has a rotten agent. He is just one big pretty boy in the film. To make matters worse, he and Thurman, have absolutely no on screen spark. They don't seem like a good match. Thurman seems wooden here. And can I just say that Eckhart turns in a boring performance The only actors to show any kind of spunk here are Joe Morton and Paul Giamatti. It's a pity that their screen time is limited. The DVD has two audio commentary tracks as part of the extras available on the disc. The first has the always affable Woo getting into the ins and outs of the production. It's kind of hard to get into it though, if you didn't really like the film, as is the case with me. The second track has screenwriter Dean Georgaris, discussing the "process" of adapting the short story for the big screen. The tracks probably would have worked out better if the two men did one commentary together. There are also two so so featurettes that spotlight both production design and stunts. Nothing groundbreaking or revealing in these extras. The most interesting part of the bonus material for me were the 7 deleted scenes. While I think nothing but the act of starting over could have saved Paycheck, the editing choices were fun to compare with the final version. Paycheck had its theatrical release delayed a bit because of "troubles". After seeing it, I can understand why, but even in its final form, there are problems a plenty At least the effects are cool.
Rating:
Summary: Watchable
Review: If you liked GATTACA, you'll probably like this one. It's a good thriller, with a good science fiction edge to it, evil corporate types, and lots of action. Like GATTACA mixed with "Memento", the issue is personal identity. In this case, there's not enough to answer the question - it was not just lost, but sold off. Once you buy the somewhat improbable premise, it holds together in an interesting way. (Memory is encoded, partly, in the physical structure of nerve cells. I don't think it can be wiped clean as easily as they suggest.) We have good reason for having no clue what's going on, and that gets things going. The good guy lives happily ever after with the leading lady, and it's generally satisfying as amusement when I wasn't free to do much else. My one remaining question is, if Our Hero is trying to live the rest of his life with a low profile, how will he ever cash that paycheck?
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