| TIME MACHINE, THE (2002) |
| CAST: Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, Mark Addy, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Phyllida Law, Omero Mumba, Orlando Jones DIRECTOR: Simon Wells SCREENPLAY: John Logan, based on the novel by H.G. Wells Running Time: 96 Mins. Rated PG-13 |
| After all the numerous delays, re-shoots and edits this film was plagued with before its release, it wasn't too much of a surprise to see that this was going to be both a half-assed Hollywood remake and adaption on an H.G. Wells story. To be fair, this update has some glorious visual effects and a decent start, but whatever the potential this film has in the beginning is squandered when it turns into a shallow rendition on "Planet of the Apes." Set in New York City around the 1890's, we're introduced to Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pierce), a dedicated professor who romances the lovely Emma (Sienna Guillory) when he isn't busy working on new inventions. Things between Emma and Alexander, however, take a downfall when an unexpected tragedy occurs. With the help of science, Alexander immediately becomes obsessed on his latest invention; a time machine that can travel forward or back in time. He tests out the new device and wants to set things right for his love life, but soon finds himself eight hundred, thousand years into the future, where life is a struggle for humanity. The world is led by the vicious beasts known as Morlocks and when Alexander soon meets up with the remaining survivors, a tribe known as the Eloi, he seeks to help them and face up against the Morlocks. "The Time Machine" isn't an awful movie by all means, yet it never seems to achieve much during its running time and leaves you hanging for something exciting to happen, which it never delivers on. The adaption from John Logan (Gladiator) gets off to a good start, but after some promising exposition and a dazzling travel sequence, this film starts to die a slow death. Details on the plot seem rushed, leaving some big holes and unanswered questions behind. I read reports this film had to clip out various scenes in the editing room (including a destruction subplot with New York City) and it shows when watching the film. I especially didn't get the new motivation in Alexander suddenly has, which completely drops his purposes on inventing the machine early on in the film. Director Simon Wells (Balto), the great grand-son of H.G. Wells, must've felt stress on the set with his first live-action film, and even had to walk off before it was finished due to "exhaustion" (the pathetic climax was filmed by Gore Verbinski). Since this film most relies on the special effects to forward the story, he does a fine enough job with what he has to work with. There's some nicely shot moments (all about the time shifting effects) and despite the fact "The Time Machine" takes itself seriously most of the time, there were some humorous moments to be found, which I'm not sure if they were meant to be funny or not. I particularly got a laugh out of the sequence where Alexander takes his first, unsuccessful spin on the time machine. The strongest element about this remake was the compassion that Aussie actor Pierce brings to the leading role. He brings forth the tenacity that Rod Taylor brought to the 1960 film and remains a strong presence throughout the movie. The more I see Pierce around, I find myself comparing him to British actor Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker's Dracula), proving himself to be a versatile talent. He deserves better, but at least he lends credibility to the film. Next to Pierce, the other cast members have remarkably little to work with, but still come through in their performances. Irish pop singer Samantha Mumba does a fine job with her debut role as Mara and I think she could do even better if she gets a decent script to work with. Mark Addy and Jeremy Irons (who was last seen hamming it up to no end in "Dungeons in Dragons") are especially wasted in what amount to bit parts, although Irons does get to pull off some menace in his brief moment late in the film as the Uber-Morlock. Orlando Jones also has an amusing little role as a digitized librarian, who somehow manages to stick around for thousands of years in the futuristic wasteland, despite no electricity available. "The Time Machine" is a harmless, but ultimately bland and disjointed movie that seems like any real logic or plot of this film was left on the cutting room floor. Pearce's performance and eye candy aside, don't be surprised when you walk out the theatre scratching your head or feeling like you've just stepped out of a time machine that slowed the 96 minute running time into taking a day. Rating: ** 1/2 out of ***** Review by Adam Eshack - (c) 4/5/02 |
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