Retroactive - Gefangene der Zeit

Rating: *** out of ****

A word of warning before the review: I highly recommend Retroactive and suggest you go out of your way to see it in widescreen because the numerous action scenes and breathtaking desert cinematography are cramped and a pain to watch in pan-and-scan.

Relegated to a straight-to-video release, Retroactive is a smart and entertaining thriller that deserves a wider audience. The film features a relatively simple but clever premise: Superhottie Kylie Travis stars as Karen Warren, a police negotiator who's on vacation in Texas. She gets into a car accident and has to hitchhike with a somewhat odd, but seemingly friendly couple, Frank and Rayanne (James Belushi and Shannon Whirry).

But everything goes horribly wrong when Frank discovers Rayanne has been cheating on him and he murders her right in front of Karen's eyes, who proceeds to run to the nearest building, a government-owned complex run by a single occupant, a scientist named Brian (Frank Whaley). There, he accidentally activates the time travel device he was working on, sending Karen back twenty minutes, just as she's been picked up by Frank. She then becomes determined to stop the horrible crime for occurring, but unfortunately, the body count grows even larger and she must go back again to prevent an even larger massacre.

Retroactive's appeal holds mainly to sci-fi action fans. The plot has a lot of twists and turns, which keeps the film unpredictable and suspenseful. But the real treat is for action fans, who should strap in for an adrenaline-pumping thrill ride. From the moment Travis is sent back in time, the film deliver non-stop excitement. There are tense shootouts and fast-paced car chases, the latter of which boasts some of the most exhilarating stunts since The Road Warrior. From a visceral point-of-view, Retroactive surpasses most of Hollywood's recent summer blockbusters.

The film still has its flaws, none of them surprisingly having to do with a sense of repetition, considering each action setpiece has the same basic setting and situation (car chase on a lonely desert highway, shootout at a gas station). Credit director Louis Morneau for keeping each sequence fresh and taut with suspense. The set-up may be the same, but the results and resolutions considerably differ. Rather, what I do have a problem with is some technical error during the shootouts. Belushi is shown firing a six-bullet revolver at one point, but clearly fires more than ten rounds. Another similar blatant miscalculation occurs again near the end. Plot holes and leaps of logic are expected in this kind of film, but the number of shots fired from a gun shouldn't be that hard to keep track of.

As the film's tough heroine, the absolutely gorgeous Kylie Travis is refreshingly intelligent and strong-willed. She occasionally has trouble holding back that British accent of hers, but still comes across quite well (looks great in that black tank-top, too). James Belushi is a lot of fun as the psychotic villain, clearly relishing the over-the-top role, even though his character does lose menace through some ridiculous one-liners. Frank Whaley is quite good as the young scientist, hampered only by a single scene that requires him to forget the logic of his own device which Travis corrects him on.

With blistering, fast-paced action and a fun story, Retroactive proves to be a highly enjoyable way to spend ninety minutes. Most of the running time features a tight tank-top and pants wearing Kylie Travis kicking ass, so that alone is enough to recommend the film.

I had picked up the DVD at a store not knowing much about the film, and was surprised that the film was as good as it was. I like Belushi. I think he played this part very well. I had never heard of Kylie Travis before, but I thought she was very good in this film. I thought she played the tough woman part well. I like the movies where there's a tough heroine. Like the Alien movies.

Of course, it didn't hurt that Kylie's good looking too. The plot was interesting. I won't divulge the rest of the movie, but suffice it to say, if someone likes adventure and science fiction together, this movie might fill the bill. If you find it at your local video store, I would suggest buying it and adding it to your collection.

My summary is that it's a better than average film. I recommend it.

This movie has a fascinating premise- what if you could go back in time, and change what you've done? Would it make things better, or worse?

Some of Jim Belushi's best acting is in this film- his "stream of consciousness" comments are a riot, and also horrifying, given their context. I've heard that he had just gotten out of a tough divorce, and the director let him ad lib at length, to really show the anger and madness in the character of Frank.

Of course, the lingering camera shots of Kylie Travis flying through the air in her black tank top and tight pants do nothing to detract from the overall watchability of this action/psychodrama thriller.

I'd give this one 8/10.

I just watched this movie on cable. Surprisingly good. Non-stop action, strong female lead, interesting plot twists. Paunchy James Belushi with a Texan twang does a great acting job as Frank, an abusive husband and all-around one mean bastard. Kylie Travis is excellent as Karen, a psychologist slash federal officer. She's no wimp and her take-no-crap attitude matches Belushi's bad-to-the-bone villain perfectly. Good movie in need of a better title. What were they thinking??

A Chicago cop has car trouble on a remote Texas highway, but is picked up by a murderous man (James Belushi) and his tormented wife. Before she can do anything to stop it, Belushi has murdered several people, including his wife. The cop (Kylie Travis) escapes to the inside of the Superconducting Supercollider, and manages to go back in time to try to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, her first trips back in time cause more murders, not less.

James Belushi shamelessly chews up the scenery in this one (or should I say shoots up), but Kylie Travis is wonderful in her role as the troubled policewoman. The film has an interesting time-travel premise which is similar to GROUNDHOG DAY and a certain STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION episode. Unfortunately, this means that we get to see Belushi murder the same people in slow motion multiple times. Still, if you overlook some of the silliness in the execution of the plot, the premise of the policewoman's dilemma is a compelling one.

By the way, the SuperCollider is not out in the desert in West Texas, but underneath farmland in east Texas, and the area is not that deserted. Also, the US Government shut down the project several years ago because it was too expensive.