Posted by LL at 169.3.126.53 on March 08, 2002 at 13:52:40:
In Reply to: Time Machine Ain't All That posted by People Love Monkeys! on March 08, 2002 at 13:01:00:
You can't beat "Back to the Future"--for my money, anyway.
: Remember the original "Time Machine" movie starring Rod Taylor? Remember how all the time travel stuff was really cool, as he watched the years pass and the world change from his workshop window? Then remember how once the whole Eloi vs. Morlock story kicked in things got significantly less cool? Well this new version of "The Time Machine" suffers from the exact same problems. All the time travel stuff has been updated and improved and CGI'd to the point where it's easily the highlight of the movie. Rivers cut canyons into rock, landscapes are changed by weather and erosion, and Dick Clark doesn't change AT ALL. (Okay, that last one's not true - but it woulda been funny.) Unfortunately, while the filmmakers managed to improve on the previous films best scene, they only succeeded in making the bad parts of the original even worse. The whole Eloi/Morlocks conflict is right out of bad 19th century science fiction... which, of course, is exactly where it came from. Things aren't helped by the fact that the first 30 minutes of the flick set up this story in which the scientist determines to travel in time to save the love of his life, who was killed in a tragic buggy accident (as opposed to a funny buggy accident) - then totally ditches that plot as soon as he meets the primitive girl with the firm breasts. It's a big, goofy mess, with a cluttered plot, marginal action sequences, and stiff acting.
: Guy Pearce continues to destroy the good will he garnered from "L.A. Confidential" and "Memento" by appearing in another weak action remake (like this years "Count of Monte Cristo" - or, as a friend called it "The Count of Monte Crisco", which I suggested would be the title of the porn version). And speaking of squandering goodwill - Jeremy Irons continues to make you forget he won an Oscar by playing the one Morlock with the power of speech. A power you become very sorry he has during a big exposition scene. "The Time Machine" has been on the shelf since last Fall, which indicates that the studio knows they have a dud on their hands, and wanted to wait until Spring to release it into a less competitive marketplace. You wonder if they'd like to travel back in time themselves and change their decision to make it in the first place.