THE TIME MACHINE
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence
Starring Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, Jeremy Irons, Orlando Jones, Mark Addy and Phyllida Law

CineSight Rating 1/2

Based on the classic sci-fi novella by H.G. Wells and directed by Wells' great-grandson Simon Wells (PRINCE OF EGYPT), THE TIME MACHINE is a simple story of a man thrown into the future as he attempts to change the past. Alexander Hartdegen (Pearce) is a physics professor and inventor in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. When his personal life is disrupted by a terrible tragedy, he builds a machine which, in theory, should allow him to travel back in time and prevent it. During the course of his experiments he is hurled 800,000 years into the future, into a world almost unrecognizable. New York is long gone, the planet's geography has changed and much of earth appears to have reverted to an idyllic paradise. Here he meets Mara (Mumba) and the Eloi tribe; peace-loving descendants of the last humans. But Hartdegen discovers this Eden also hides a terrifying secret - the Morlocks, a species evolved and mutated from all the worst in humanity. He may not be able to change his own past, but Hartdegen finds himself faced with the possibility of changing humanity's future.

Knowing that Dreamworks/Warners had pushed back THE TIME MACHINE's release several times to avoid conflicting with the big holiday event movies, I was a little nervous about what they might be hiding. Thankfully, I was quite pleasantly surprised. Although not an epic, this is a fun bit of escapism from the current crop of war movies dominating the box office. The filmmakers take great pains to set up the story in as plausible a way as possible bearing in mind the premise. And for the most part they manage to pull it off, although I must confess the ending is startlingly abrupt. Overall it is a very workman-like job; often amusing but never quite allowing us to experience the amazing.

Guy Pearce doesn't have a great deal to challenge him in the role of the time traveller. His part is probably the least well fleshed-out. On the other hand, the best performances belong to Jeremy Irons as the Uber-Morlock and to Orlando Jones, who plays a know-it-all holographic library program. As with George Pal's 1960 version, the real stars of THE TIME MACHINE are its visual effects. The machine itself is a wonder of brass, valves, guages and glass. We are also treated to some great shots of cities decaying, ice ages, bare rock eroded by the elements and gradually being taken over by jungle, and even the destruction of the moon. But the most memorable moment for me was a long slow pull back from Hartdegen's New York workshop, up above the city as skyscrapers begin to take shape. Vintage planes fly overhead, quickly replaced by jets. Up through the atmosphere, a satellite drifts by and as we pass the moon a space shuttle heads for a lunar colony. To me, that is really what THE TIME MACHINE is all about. Yes, it could have been more. The acting could have been better; the scenes more spectacular; and at 96 minutes, it could have been longer. But I wanted to see a journey through time, and on that score, the movie delivers.