A panned action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg has climbed the charts on Prime Video, reaching all the way to the tippy top #1 spot. Titled Infinite, the movie was met with largely scathing reviews from critics at the time, but this no-nonsense tale of a mysterious group who have mastered the art of reincarnation, and the decades of learning of fighting skills that come with it, could be just what you need amid the drama of the real world.
Loosely adapted from D. Eric Maikranz’s 2009 novel “The Reincarnationist Papers,” Infinite finds Mark Wahlberg as Evan McCauley, a man with skills he has never learned and memories of places he has never visited haunt his daily life. Self-medicated and on the brink of a mental breakdown, Evan is sought by a secret group that call themselves “Infinites,” revealing to him that his memories may be real-but they are from multiple past lives.
The Infinites bring Evan into their extraordinary world, where a gifted few are given the ability to be reborn with their memories and knowledge accumulated over centuries. With critical secrets buried in his past, Evan must work with the Infinites to unlock the answers in his memories in a race against time to save humanity from one of their own.
Was Infinite a Missed Opportunity?
Directed by The Equalizer and Training Dayfilmmaker Antoine Fuqua, Infinite has been adapted for the screen by Ian Shorr with Todd Stein writing the screen story. Starring alongside Mark Wahlberg, the ensemble cast is made up of Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Liz Carr, Toby Jones and Dylan O’Brien, with Oscar nominee, MCU, and Venom: The Last Dance star Chiwetel Ejiofor as Wahlberg’s main adversary.
Infinite was met with negative reviews upon release, and stands at 17% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman found some enjoyment in the action thriller, calling it “absurdly plotted” but “ass-kicking.” Ultimately, however, he found the movie to be a missed opportunity that would have been served better with The Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien in the lead instead of Wahlberg.
“Dylan O’Brien and Mark Wahlberg needed to reverse roles. In the context of the story, it makes more sense for a younger, more dynamic actor to play Evan McCauley. Wahlberg, older and an established action commodity, would have been believable as Heinrich Treadway. O’Brien makes an impact with limited screen time. Anyone who’s seen American Assassin knows he has the chops to carry an action blockbuster. An opportunity was lost on several fronts for a better film.”
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Mark Wahlberg continues to ply his trade as an action hero. The actor and Academy Award nominee is all set to star in the action thriller Flight Risk, directed by Mel Gibson, which is due for release in theaters on January 24, 2025. Alongside this, Wahlberg will lead the crime thriller Play Dirty from Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys director Shane Black, and the action-comedy Balls Up from Dumb and Dumber and Green Book’s Peter Farrelly.
- Release Date
- June 10, 2021
- Runtime
- 1hr 46min
- Studio
- Paramount Pictures, New Republic Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures
- Tagline
- Grief. Hallucinations. Pride. Visions & Reminiscence