Review of Time After Time (2011) by Alex K — 04 Mar 2009

H.G. Wells chases Jack the Ripper through time. It's a proposterous concept, but it sounds like a bit of fun, and in delivery, it ends up being just that. Nicholas Meyer's late-70s sci-fi jokester film isn't really much of a rememberance among most audiences today.

The special effects are dated, the plot devices seem cliche, and everything has that air of the decade that often makes films laughable years later. But, I suppose if I'm going to give the movie a three star review I should probably say something positive about it aside from "fun", so here we go.

The movie starts with a gruesome murder that clues us in to the Jack the Ripper plot, and then goes on to immediately reveal the killer as none other than David Warner, beloved English character actor that you've seen as Classy British Villain No.

91 in every other film ever made (but damn is he good at it). Malcolm McDowell is his counterpart, a full of himself turn of the century scientist hippie dedicated to free love, peace among nations, and time travel.

Shit goes bananas and Jack the Ripper hijacks the time machine, leading H.G. after him and into the 1970s, where we begin the now overdone technique of portraying Mr. Wells as the fish out of present-time water.

What are those strange machines!? McDonalds!? Oh my this motorcar is fast!! In comes the love interest, future Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen as Amy, and the romance launches! What follows is a moderately engaging thriller tale of a murderer on the prowl and a detective with all odds against him on the prowl.

Everything is pretty much by the books. All the info is given to the audience right off the bat, in that totally non-subtle way that basically screams "HEY YOU SEE THIS FAILSAFE THING ON THE TIME MACHINE!? HERE'S A CLOSE UP JUST IN CASE! THIS IS GOING TO COME IN HANDY LATER SO PAY ATTENTION!" Just as lacking in subtlety is the film's heavy-handed commentary on social utopia and H.

G.'s dissapointment in the future he could have never imagined, but his drive to fight on anyway. What keeps the movie afloat while the totally average script bogs it down is the sensibility of all the lead actors to just have fun with the damn thing, and they do.

Malcolm McDowell is just so bumbly and charming that it's hard not to crack a smirk or two at him, and David Warner is so good at being bad. The film's predictable sense of humor becomes funny enough to propel it as well, straight through the odd turn of semi-graphic violence and the ridiculous closing action sequence.

So what was all that I just said? An intense elaboration on the word "fun", which is what Time After Time is at its core and at its most explicit. Take it with a grain of salt and enjoy.