Cast: Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, Sienna Guillory, Jeremy Irons, Phyllida Law, Mark Addy, Orlando Jones, Omero Mumba
Director: Simon Wells
Producers: Walter F. Parkes, David Valdes
Screenplay: John Logan, based on the novel by H.G. Wells
Cinematography: Donald McAlpine
Music: Klaus Badelt
U.S. Distributor: Dreamworks Pictures
These days, it's about as likely for Hollywood to turn out a faithful adaptation of a classic novel as for Disney to do a porno film. The best thing I can say about the newest cinematic version of the H.G. Wells classic is that reading the book won't spoil the film, because the two have little in common. To say that The Time Machine is "based on the novel by H.G. Wells" borders on false advertising. A more accurate attribution would be "based on a couple of the ideas presented in the novel by H.G. Wells". Yes, there's a time machine, and humanity of the future has evolved into two distinct species (the pacifist Eloi and the vicious Morlocks), but beyond that, there's little of the book in the movie. One would have thought director Simon Wells could have been a little more faithful to his great-grandfather's work. (Actually, Wells didn't finish the job. Although he gets sole credit as the director, he was replaced part-way through the shoot by Gore Verbinski.)
To be fair, for the better part of 70 minutes, The Time Machine represents passable entertainment. As adventure yarns go, this one's not all bad, even if it does bear a striking resemblance to Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes redux. Then comes the climax and conclusion, and The Time Machine falls apart. Throwing out the ending of the book (not surprising, considering how little of the text has been retained), the filmmakers decided to go in a different direction. Unfortunately, the one they have chosen exhibits at least three obvious faults: (1) it's anticlimactic, (2) it's not satisfying, and (3) it makes no sense whatsoever. Deus ex machina strikes again, and in the most galling manner possible. I understand what happened at the end, but not how or why, and John Logan's screenplay gives no clue whatsoever. Maybe the necessary exposition was left on the cutting room floor. Or maybe the men behind the movie figured that the target audience wouldn't care.
For this version, Wells' nameless time traveler gets a moniker: Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pearce). An introverted inventor living in New York at the end of the 19th century, Alexander is far ahead of his time when it comes to science and mathematics. When his beloved fiancée, Emma (Sienna Guillory), is killed in a failed robbery attempt, Alexander throws all of his efforts into developing a device that will transport him back in time so he can save her. It takes him four years to build his time machine, but, when he uses it, he discovers that he can't alter history. He saves Emma from the robbery, but she still dies. Heartbroken, Alexander decides to go into the future to find out why he can't manipulate the past. After a brief stop 1000 years ahead, his trek takes him another 800,000 years forward, beyond cataclysms and ice ages, to a replenished and repopulated Earth, where human beings have evolved into two species: the non-violent Eloi, who dwell above ground, and the murderous Morlocks, who live in a vast underground civilization. After being helped by an Eloi girl named Mara (Samantha Mumba), Alexander allies himself with the peace-loving race and decides to free them from the terror of being hunted by the Morlocks.
One could make a sound argument that the main character in Wells' "The Time Machine" would have benefited from a more detailed backstory, and the movie proffers one. However, while the concept of a doomed love story adds an element of romantic flair to the tale, it opens up a can of worms concerning time paradoxes that the simplistic script is unable to cope with in a sufficiently credible manner. Alexander may be "a man haunted by those two most terrible words - 'What if?'", but, when he finally learns why he can't change time, the answer sounds... well... lame.
The best time travel adventures are leavened with humor (for example, Back to the Future, Star Trek IV, and the TV series "Dr. Who"). The Time Machine mistakenly abandons this approach and plays it straight. The acting is generally of mediocre quality. Guy Pearce is ill-suited to the role of a time traveling action hero, and his love interests - Sienna Guillory as Emma and Samantha Mumba as Mara - are wooden. As a Morlock in desperate need of a tan, Jeremy Irons finds a role that's perfect for his consumptive acting style. However, the real star of The Time Machine isn't any of the flesh-and-blood performers, but the tremendous special effects. The two main time travel sequences, which show the world changing in fast-forward outside of the machine's protective sphere, are amazing to watch. If only there had been a script to do them justice...
Some will argue that because there's no such thing as time travel, it's foolish to make judgments about a film's approach to the various paradoxes associated with the fictional concept. The problem is, it's the duty of the filmmakers to make us believe in time travel - a task at which they utterly fail. In their zeal to present a straightforward, intellectually neutered motion picture, they have abandoned credibility. The Time Machine is stupid - too stupid for the impressive special effects or the competently directed action sequences to wash away the bitter taste. In deviating so far from the film's written inspiration, Simon Wells has assured that the version of the story bearing his name will not stand the test of time.
© 2002 James Berardinelli