With successful director Antoine Fuqua behind the camera and stars like Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ojiofor in front of it, 2021’s Infinities looked like a potential blockbuster. However, after COVID-related delays, the movie never hit theaters.

Instead, the studio shuffled Infinites off to the Paramount+ streaming service in June 2021. Nearly a year later, it makes its disc-based debut, so here we go!

Evan McCauley (Wahlberg) apparently suffers from mental illness. Allegedly schizophrenia makes it difficult for him to maintain a stable life, and he self-medicates to calm these internal voices/visions.

Evan’s path takes changes when he finds out that a psychiatric disorder doesn’t cause his confusion. Instead, he learns that like a few hundred others, he can recall his past lives. This leads Evan down a dangerous path as part of a battle between rival factions of “Infinites” who bring wildly differing views of how mankind should proceed.

If I accused Infinite of delivering a cheap Matrix knockoff, would that seem accutate? Not at all.

Instead, Infinite brings us what appears to be an expensive Matrix knockoff. Though I couldn’t locate a budget, based on the talents involved and the movie’s overall look, I suspect it cost a pretty penny.

The fact the studio shuffled Infinite off to streaming instead of a theatrical release doesn’t mean they lacked any confidence in the final product. Maybe they felt a high-profile flick like this would encourage a nice influx of new subscribers to Paramount+.

After a screening of Infinite, however, I tend toward the notion that the movie went straight to streaming more as an effort to bury a bad film. While not unwatchable, this does become a flawed piece of work.

I don’t want to leave the impression that Infinite literally remakes Matrix, as the two diverge in various ways. However, they also bear an awful lot of thematic similarities, and aspects of Infinite can feel heavily influenced from the 1999 classic and its sequels.

If Infinite mustered a fraction of the excitement and thrills of Matrix, I wouldn’t mind this derivative nature so much. A movie needn’t offer something new and fresh to entertain.

Unfortunately, Infinite becomes so wrapped up in its convoluted story that it becomes a drag to watch much of the time. At its core, we get a basic “good vs. evil” battle narrative, but Fuqua tells it in such a muddled manner that it becomes a chore to follow.

Infinite seems enraptured with its own semi-philosophical side, so it enjoys delusions of intelligence. Too much of the end result feels meat-headed and simplistic for it to live up to these aspirations, though.

The actors don’t help. Wahlberg essentially just plays the semi-emotionless “Mark Wahlberg Character” and sleepwalks through the movie, without a scintilla of passion or investment in the role.

Ojiofor camps it up too much as our main villain, and Jason Mantzoukas tries too hard to amuse via his “I’m Just Here As Comic Relief” role. The others in the cast barely register.

Fuqua does manage to bring some life to the movie’s action scenes. While these don’t innovate ala Matrix’s “bullet time”, they seem reasonably vivid and they bring some life to the proceedings on occasion.

Alas, these sequences don’t offer enough spark to compensate for all the muddled tedium we find with the rest of the movie. Infinite doesn’t offer a truly terrible action/sci-fi flick, but given the talent involved, it definitely disappoints.

Infinite appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. A native 4K product, the Dolby Vision presentation looked consistently terrific.

At all times, definition looked great. The film showed solid delineation, with nary a soft spot to be found.

I witnessed no shimmering or jagged edges, and edge haloes failed to appear. Of course, print flaws also didn’t occur, so this was a clean image.

In terms of colors, Infinite emphasized the usual amber/orange and teal, though a few shots boasted some broader tones. While largely predictable, the hues seemed well-rendered. The disc’s HDR gave the elements added depth and intensity.

Blacks were dark and deep, and low-light shots offered nice smoothness and clarity. HDR brought extra impact and power to whites and contrast. Everything about the image worked.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Infinite presented an exciting experience. One would anticipate a high-octane blast from a movie like this, and that’s what the mix delivered.

The soundfield boasted a lot of activity and used the channels well. Vehicles and various forms of mayhem came from logical spots all around the room and meshed in a smooth manner. All the speakers became active partners to turn this into a vibrant, engrossing track.

Audio quality also seemed strong. Music was lively and full, and speech appeared natural and concise.

Effects dominated and appeared solid. Those elements came across as accurate and dynamic, with fine low-end response as well. I felt pleased with this sizzling soundtrack.

Four featurettes appear here, and They Call Themselves Infinites runs seven minutes, 43 seconds. It brings notes from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, production designer Chris Seagers, VFX supervisor Pete Bebb, screenwriter Ian Shorr, stunt coordinator Nikki Powell, special effects supervisor Mark Holt, property master Terry Wood, and actors Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ojiofor, Sophie Cookson, and Jason Mantzoukas.

“Call” covers story/characters, sets and design choices and various effects. The show offers a mix of moderate insights and praise.

The Kinetic Action of Infinites lasts eight minutes, 56 seconds and involves di Bonaventura, Holt, 2nd unit director Simon Crane, action vehicle supervisor Graham Kelly, camera operator Eduardo Flores, and actors Dylan O’Brien, Rupert Friend, and Joana Ribeiro.

As expected, “Kinetic” examines some of the movie’s action sequences. Though it comes with some of the usual happy talk, “Kinetic” delivers a reasonably informative overview.

Next comes Anatomy of a Scene, a 12-minute, 55-second piece that includes di Bonaventura, Crane, Wahlberg, Kelly, Seagers, Bebb, Ojiofor, Cookson, Holt, and Powell.

Here we get details about the elements involved with the film’s “Police Station and Forest” sequences. Expect another decent mix of praise and details.

Finally, Infinite Time spans five minutes, 11 seconds and gives us remarks from di Bonaventura, Bebb, and Powell.

“Time” discusses a big revelatory segment in the film’s climax. It comes with a few insights.

Essentially a ripoff of The Matrix, Infinite becomes a more interesting movie than its poor reviews would indicate, mainly via a smattering of well-executed action films. However, it lacks an intelligent POV and a coherent narrative, so it ends up as a mushy mess. The 4K UHD boasts excellent visuals and audio along with a handful of bonus materials. Despite some A-list talent involved, this turns into a “C-“ movie.