95ers: Time Runners

A very small budget Science fiction movie, possibly made for TV that kept me entertained throughout. I am a sucker for time travel, but it had some original ideas that impressed me. The effects are really not that important, use your imagination, the plot kept me interested and the acting was reasonable. Special note for the character called Brego, a person from the distant future with a wonderfully camp South West English accent, put a smile on my face every time he opened his mouth. Anyone who is a lover of Sci-fi should give this movie a try, far better than some of the Hollywood rubbish.

Apparently, TIME RUNNERS took many years to get made. You wonder why all the effort, because this turns out to be a very ordinary movie, one whose admittedly interesting premise is ruined by a dreadful, TV movie-style execution which makes the whole thing look and feel cheesy. It feels like a rip-off of TIMECOP, except with the action heroes of that film replaced by a pregnant housewife trying to solve the mystery of her husband's death.

This housewife has a special ability, which is to rewind time by five seconds, something that comes in very handy during some fun fight scenes that are interspersed throughout. Sadly, the interest level remains low, thanks to some VERY cheesy performances, particularly the guy with the exaggerated British accent who made me cringe every time he spoke. The special effects are on par with your average SyFy Channel movie, leaving this a disappointing "could have been" viewing experience.

Well, I can honestly say I was very surprised. Many will complain it's slow, I will agree that it is, indeed. If you like "Timecop" type flicks you'll be better off skipping this one. I like the approach it takes on the meddling with time lines and I love the aesthetics of the "science" and machinery in it. I thought that maybe, from the critics I had heard, I would be bored of watching it after as little as 15mn but here's the thing, I didn't. It's one of these movies you have to try for yourself. If you start it, do finish it. In the end, I feel it's worth it once you go beyond its pacing. Even that improves dramatically in the end. Not a popcorn flick, rather a brainy type of time paradox movie.

It starts like it's recapping the previous episode in a crazy sci fi series, trying to bring you up to speed. It actually highlights some of the events in the movie itself. Really??

Usual problem here - writer/director. No one to question or query his grand vision. Desperately needed in such a potentially complex story.

Initially, some of the voices sound like they've been dubbed. And there are some brilliant(!) shots of actors talking with their mouths covered by various objects. One can only assume the writer/director was trying to plug holes in the plot by explanations. Maybe he was listening to someone. Unfortunately, not enough.

The direction/editing is poor in many places and really flags it as amateur/low budget. And there are some poor casting choices.

Some of the dialogue is just off plot and character. At one point it descends into totally incongruous family argument.

The whole plot is very convoluted, confused and unclear. You could be half way through the movie before you understand who everyone is and what's going on. And even 2/3rds of the way through, it's still confusing.

Of course, being a time travel movie, there are the inevitable anomalies. Unfortunately, there are a few glaring ones. It's not a suspension of disbelief thing, but the way time and time travel is supposed to work in the movie - it varies to support the plot.

There is a sort of twist or two but by this time you're probably not bothered and the attempt at the twisty reveal thing at the end was so predictable.

And the music jars terribly. Some of it's just really annoying but most of the time it's waaaaaay over the top. Oh, writer/director and composer have the same surname. Nepotism, perhaps?

The result is a bitty, scrappy, movie that does no favours for anyone, especially time travel fans. The subject matter alone gives it a second star but time travel fans will miss nothing (but a poor movie) by giving this a miss.

This is an energetic, ambitious and reasonably well-acted yarn about time and space. The main problem is the lack of character development and preamble to a cohesive plot line. The slightly amateurish nature of this film won't necessarily deter you from watching, as it IS quite good overall, but it BEGS for better directing and character embellishment. I watched it twice before I wrote this review. It's one those movies that is both easy and sometimes hard to watch as the acting and continuity keeps changing almost by scene. It works for the most part yet leaves too many questions unanswered simply by being so disjointed as a whole.

I would recommend it to all who appreciate this genre as bare minimum fare. I would also recommend it to film students as to what NOT to do as far as under-developing a story and its characters and leaving too many possible sub-plots unexplained.

Not bad, not great, but an awesome and sincere attempt to create some fine film art. 4.8 overall.