This isn't your father's "Time Machine" - which is not necessarily a good thing. Adapted from the novel by H.G. Wells (and actually directed by his real-life great-grandson, Simon Wells), this remake of the 1960 film takes the viewer on an entertaining, if somewhat hokey, journey through time.
Guy Pearce (star of the acclaimed "Memento") is Alexander Hartdegen, a turn of the century Engineering professor at Columbia University in New York City. Like other recent on-screen Ivy League professors (think Pearce's "LA Confidential" costar Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind"), Hartdegen is an eccentric, obsessive man whose only non-intellectual passion seems to be his lovely girlfriend Emma.
Unfortunately for Hartdegen, the relationship is not meant to be. Immediately after Hartdegen, in his own typically scatterbrained fashion, proposes to his sweetheart in the park, a malicious vagabond over-dramatically mugs the couple, resulting in Emma's death.
Devastated by the loss, Hartdegen shuts himself up in his house for four years and adopts all the trappings of a thoroughly crazed professor - beard, wild eyes and hair, and, presumably, the installation of gigantic wall-to-wall chalkboards in his own private home laboratory. His friends and housekeeper, understandably concerned, try futilely to coax him out of his self-imposed solitude. However, when Hartdegen finally shaves and dresses in normal clothing again, it is not because he has accepted his friend's dinner invitation, but because he is preparing to try out his, drumroll please, "grand project."
The project, if it is still a surprise to anyone (considering the title of the movie) is a time machine. This time machine, a lovely concoction that seems to consist of an easy chair, lots of gauges and rods and two bright lights moving in a very fast circular fashion encasing the chair, was created to allow Alex to travel back in time in order to save Emma from her untimely death. Lest the viewer does not grasp this purpose on his or her own, Hartdegen dramatically repeats, "I will change the past!" at least once or twice every 10 minutes.
For a few brief moments, it seems that he may succeed. After firing up the time machine, Hartdegen travels to the past, meets up with Emma and successfully escapes the park. Overcome by her presence, he gives in to her whining demands for flowers. In what should be a warning to nagging girlfriends everywhere, the instant Hartdegen steps into the florist, Emma is run over by a horse-drawn carriage when the horse was spooked by a newfangled automobile. Death seems fated after all.
At this point, Hartdegen's life goal changes. Instead of saving Emma, he becomes obsessed with traveling into the future to find out why he cannot prevent her death. This shift in priorities comes as a relief to any moviegoer who begins to fear that the film is quickly turning into a very morbid version of "Groundhog's Day."
On his journey into the future, Hartdegen meets up with a holographic museum tour guide (Orlando Jones of "Make 7-Up Yours" commercial fame) who brings him up to speed on modern times. When disaster strikes Earth of the future, however, Hartdegen is wounded and unintentionally hurtled to the year 800,000, where the human race has split into two separate species: the peaceful, attractive Eloi and the warlike, ugly Morlocks.
Professor Hartdegen manages to befriend two Eloi in particular, the young Kalen and his older sister Mara (singer Samantha Mumba) who likes to run around wearing what appears to be a loosely woven fishnet. Of course, standard Hollywood chase scenes, murky lighting and jerky camerawork ensue, all the while leading our hero deeper and deeper into the meaning of his quest.
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Pearce is an excellent actor and, as he is apt to do, carries this movie. He is convincing both as a nerdy, bumbling professor and as a tanned, bearded desperado of the far future. Jones, as the helpful hologram, also is entertaining in his trademark manner, delivering some witty lines and even singing a few bars of music. Most of the other actors, however, are rather forgettable, with the exception of Jeremy Irons, who plays the intellectual head of the Morlocks.
By far the best scene in the entire movie consists of a clever knockdown, drag-out fight between Iron and Pearce, trapped within the time machine itself. During the rest of the movie, the effects are, at best, very good, but not quite "special." The Morlocks, wild beasts that they are, are well-costumed and fairly convincing except when leaping implausibly large distances (always just missing our hero!).
While on the subject of "leaping," it might be noted how interesting it is that Hartdegen himself is given these unrealistic (but cinematically stunning) action sequences as well. Though Hartdegen has trouble merely walking down the steps of an Eloi dwelling on account of his severely cracked ribs, he is shown immediately hurtling himself from one windmill-type structure to the next while simultaneously beating up an angry Morlock. Ouch.
Overall, the film was entertaining if somewhat mindless. Perhaps geared toward a slightly younger audience, "The Time Machine" certainly retains enough of the original's spirit to be fairly enjoyable in its own right. Maybe it'll even be around for future time travelers to catch.
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