Source Code

I have chosen to examine the trailer Source Code and was surprised to see archetypes. The trailer starts off with Captain Stevens who plays the hero, he finds himself in a man named Sean’s body on a train next to a Sean’s girlfriend Christina. Shortly after the train explodes and Captain Stevens is extremely confused when wakes up in a dark room (which is symbolic for the unknown) and is told by a mysterious man and woman that he is inside “the Source Code” which is “a computer program” that “enables [Captain Stevens] to crossover into another man’s identity in the last eight minutes of his life”. He is also told that another attack is planned to occur in six hours but if he can identify the bomber the next attack can be prevented (this is his task). He goes on the common battle between good and evil. The evil force is the terrorist who bombed the train, he plays the devil figure that the hero works against and is his main obstacle in the way of his quest. The man and woman act as Captain Steven’s mentors because they give him instructions to “look for [a person] who seems nervous” to help him on his quest. They also provide Captain Stevens with supernatural aid, which is the Source Code, the extremely high technology that plays the major role in making it possible for Captain Stevens to find the terrorist. This is Captain Steven’s departure as well as his initiation. He is called to an adventure; his task is to find the person responsible for bombing the train which will complete his archetypal journey which is his quest to rid the land of danger (he would stop the next attack, saving hundreds of people). He is introduced to the Source Code which is a new and dangerous world and is reluctant to return but isn’t given the choice and is sent back onto the train. A flash of bright light is shown before he enters Sean’s identity. It symbolizes the hope of finding who the bomber is.
 It is obvious that Captain Stevens will also go through the road of trails stage. It will be a great struggle, testing his strength, resourcefulness and endurance, to find the bomber. We already know Captain Stevens faces limited time because he is only given eight minutes before the trail explodes and must try again, also only six hours before the next attack.  
On top of this great responsibility Captain Stevens falls for Christina which begins another quest, to rescue the damsel in distress. He begins to spend his precious time desperately trying to accomplish the seemingly hopeless task of saving Christina even though the man and woman speakers try to convince him not to waste his time because it is impossible to change the outcome while in the Source Code. The inner most cave will be when cave where Captain Stevens faces the great trail of completing his task before time runs out.
If Captain Stevens figures out who the bomber is, his return and reintegration with society with be exiting the Source Code and using his newfound information to prevent the bomber from his next attack which will restore order to the land. Also, as the hero usually accomplishes to rescue a damsel in distress it means that he might have completed his other quest to rescue Christina. This will mean that he has accomplished the impossible, altering the outcome of the train crash. This will develop many possibilities the Source Code has such as saving many people's lives from accidents which will also restoring order to the land.       

Captain Stevens is a complex hero who given many heroic archetypes; a hero as a warrior because he faces physical challenges and external challenges (the bomber), an apocalyptic hero because he faces the possible destruction of society (the many deaths of the people on the trains) and finally a hero as a lover (is motivated by his love for Christina which occurs later). And of course Captain Stevens will stop the bomber because good almost always triumphs over evil despite all odds!  

As you can see there are lots of archetypes that can already be found in the movie trailer. It also makes it easy to predict the next stages in the hero Captain Stevens’ journey and the other archetypes that will occur throughout the film. I think that the archetypes in this movie are essential to the suspense and plotline of this movie.