Movie: Timecrimes
My Rating: 4
stars
I was really excited to see this movie, now that I’m back
into a full-fledged, time travel movie kick.
I had actually been meaning to watch this one for quite some time now,
but for one reason or another, I never got around to it. (Really, I know exactly why I hadn’t watched
it yet, and it has something to do with full seasons of my favorite TV shows
being available to stream through Netflix).
But also, I find that I need to store up a fair amount of mental energy
before I’m willing to commit to a time travelling script. Some of them are easier to understand than
others, but I find that they all require my pretty focused attention.
The story in this film is your classic closed-universe time
travel story. That’s the kind where you
really can’t affect the past of the future, no matter what you do, because
everything has already been done.
Another film in this vein is The TimeTraveler’s Wife. These stories are
opposed to open-universe time travel stories, where characters have to be
really careful about what they do because they really do have the possibility
of royally screwing things up with just the tiniest mistake. Films in this tradition include Looper, which I recently reviewed, and
one of my all-time favorites, Primer. I can’t make up my mind which kind I like
better. The open-universe stories fill
me with such terror. I get a feeling of
dread in my stomach when I see characters haphazardly stumbling into
trouble. And, it’s fun to get that kind
of thrill. But, the closed-universe
story lines tend to make me start having very philosophical and existential
thoughts—cursing the futility of it all.
And I find that kind of thing very pleasurable, too.
The story in this film is about a man who unwittingly
travels back in time a couple of hours, and who must try his hardest to avoid
bumping into himself and tearing open the fabric of the universe. The dramatic tension comes from the audience
watching him blunder through this task in a pretty chaotic, mildly disastrous fashion. The movie is definitely a thriller, and
provides plenty very tense, and sometimes sexy moments. But, I think I’d only recommend this movie to
people who are already fans of time travel stories. The story is pretty simple, and I think
enjoyment of this film comes from appreciating the director’s variations on a
classic theme. I’m not entirely sure
there’s enough other stuff going on in the movie to capture the attention of
the casual viewer. But, I really liked
it, and it was definitely a good addition to my own portfolio.
2 comments:
I was innocent of Timecrimes, but it is now on my list of films to see because of your review. Thank you.
There is a different time travel film that might be of interest, Millennium based on a novel of the same name by John Varley. Sadly, the film itself is mediocre, but the story is well worth attention. The initial kernel of the idea, Varley’s short story Air Raid is a gem.
Ooo. I'll definitely check that one out. That's for the suggestion!
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