Subject: Review: Time Machine, The (2002)

From: Robin Clifford <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 19:55:50 -0000

"The Time Machine"

Dr. Alexander Hartdegen is a brilliant inventor, mathematician and
physicist and a little absent minded. But that does not mean that he isn't
head over heels in love with his beloved fiancée. A tragic moment in time
takes Emma's (Sienna Guillory) life and Alexander secludes himself to find
a way to bring her back. Four years of effort pay off and the scientist
invents a way to crack the time barrier in a new millennium interpretation
of the classic H.G. Wells science fiction tale, "The Time Machine."

Animation director Simon Wells (great-grandson of H.G. himself) make his
break into live action with John Logan's adaptation of the 1960 screenplay
(by David Duncan) in the George Pal classic version of "The Time Machine."
There is a built-in audience of fans of the '60 flick that will bring us to
the theater out of curiosity, alone. Comparison to Pal's film, rather than
Well's original story, is a given and, as with last year's "Planet of the
Apes," scrutiny of the modern retelling is bound to happen. Since I was one
of those knocked out by '60 film when I was a kid, I, too, shall compare.

The most endearing quality of Wells-the-younger's remake is the obvious and
deeply felt homage to the George Pal classic. It does not achieve the level
of complexity and depth that the great science fiction director-producer
accomplished back when F/X were crafted rather than computed. Nice little
touches that will mean something to us devotees to the original are
sprinkled throughout the film even as it tries to cut new ground. Watch
for, briefly, the dress shop and for a very small cameo perf by Alan Young,
who had a couple of roles in the Pal work. There is a quality in the story
telling and social commentary in the 60 film - there is, for instance, a
strong anti-Cold War statement about nuclear destruction in one of the more
numerous stops the hero of that film (coincidentally another Australian,
Rod Taylor) makes. Logan's script lacks the depth of its predecessor,
making this "The Time Machine" (lite).

The new "Machine" makes an effort to gain some distance from David Duncan's
50's-era script and introduces the love angle as Alexander's motivation to
traverse time. It is set in the same era, the turn-of-the-19th century, but
is transplanted from London to New York City, which fits, from a Hollywood
viewpoint, since NYC would be a high-tech Mecca of the time. The scientist
is motivated to solve the time travel enigma when Emma is slain by a thief.
But, when he invents his machine and goes back in time to save her (and
his) life, he realizes that he can't change the past as Emma is killed yet
again (in the film most unintentional comic moments). Hartdegen takes his
machine and heads into the future to find the answers to his question of
"what if."

Alexander takes a couple of timeouts on his journey into the future - once
in 2030 with a brief follow-up a few years later - that are used to set up
some of the plot devices that would be useful later in the story. One
interesting bit of fun is the intro of Vox (Orlando Jones) as the
holographic librarian that has all of the world's knowledge at the tips of
his cyber fingers. The high tech look coupled with a sassy perf by Jones
make for one of the film's several notable supporting performances. One or
two more stopovers along the way in the inventor's journey into time would
have helped flesh things out a bit more.

The meat of the story, in both versions, is the hero's arrival 800000 years
in the future. The Eloi are a cliff-dwelling people who wish to live in
peace but, through many millennia of evolution, have become victim to the
Morlock, underground dwellers that rely on the beautiful Eloi as their main
dietary staple. When (and I really mean "when") the inventor arrives he is
subjected to the chaos of one of the Morlock attacks on the helpless Eloi
and witnesses the beautiful Mara (Irish pop star Samantha Mumba doing a
solid job in her debut on film) taken by the ugly Morlock hunters - of
course, the romance is duly set up before the attack to give our hero
reason to go under ground to rescue the future Eve to his Adam.

The screenplay does a solid job in interpreting the time travel paradox -
if you went back in time to kill your grandmother to stop some heinous
event then you would never be born to invent a time machine to go back in
time to kill your grandmother.... Alexander heads into the future to get
his answers and he sees that he must stop the cannibalistic attacks of the
Morlocks and bring education, enlightenment and true freedom to the Eloi.
Along the way in his quest, the doctor meets the Uber-Morlock (Jeremy
Irons) a pasty faced subterranean dweller that has evolved to the top of
the caste structured Morlock society. Irons has a commanding presence as
the psychic leader that can give Alexander the answer he seeks. This role
could well have been comical in a lesser actor's hands, but Iron's delivers
a creepy perf that makes the skin crawl. What is unfortunate, and a problem
that holds the film back, is star Guy Pearce. He is two-dimensional and
evokes almost no empathy, which is a shame considering the good supporting
cast.

This is a sci-fi, high-tech F/X-driven drama and the makers deliver some
interesting effects along the way. The time machine, itself, is a flashy
update to the buggy that Rod Taylor rode and there are more flashing lights
this time around. The fast motion time-passing sequence, as Alexander
hurtles into the future, is visual eye candy. The worker/hunter Morlocks,
developed by Stan Winston Studios, are nasty, ugly, fast moving creatures
that are far more formidable than those in the Pal film. The filmmakers use
the terrifying power of the Morlock race, and Alexander's need to destroy
it, to come up with a very different solution from that of the original.

"The Time Machine" does not have airs about being better than the original
film and wear its admiration to the George Pal film prominently on its
sleeve. It dares to be different by introducing dramatic angst into the
sci-fi equation (though Guy Pearce is not involving as the hero/romantic
figure) and providing a collection of three-dimensional supporting
characters. And, it still captures the essence of H.G. Wells. I give it a
B-.

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X-RT-TitleID: 1112951
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X-RT-RatingText: B-