The Time Machine

Directed by Simon Wells

Starring Guy Pearce, Jeremy Irons, Mark Addy, Orlando Jones and Samantha Mumba

Do you remember those "Where's The Beef?" Wendy's ads where that old lady would go around to different fast food chains asking the above question? Well if that old lady had gone to see The Time Machine, she would be asking that very same question. Much like the burgers at Wendy's competitors, this film has a very large bun with little inside of it. The film hypes it up as amazing and exciting with its special effects, but when you actually get there, you are left wondering where's the movie?

The movie is based on the book of the same name by H.G. Wells, but there are clearly significant portions of this book deleted for the movie. The fine people at Dreamworks Pictures probably assumed that when they attached Simon Wells, great-grandson of H.G. Wells, to the picture that they would get a movie that was faithful to the book. But this was not the case. Simon Wells (director of The Prince of Egypt and An American Tale: Fievel Goes West), in his first directing job with non- cartoon characters, failed to change his style in this movie from his typical child audience to the more grown-up style needed to make this movie good. At an 1 hour and 36 minutes, this film has a feel more akin to a kids movie where much of the details that are used to build a deep story in an more mature movie are cut out. It feels like at many points things should have been expanded so that the audience could engage themselves more in the story. Now while usually I'm glad to see movies that do not over-explain every minute detail like many recent two and half to three hour movies, but this movie feels too bare. Instead of getting into a topic, the film merely dabs in a few areas without telling you anything.

As for the acting, there is nothing special here. Guy Pearce is good as usual, but does nothing outstanding with this story. Mark Addy (The Full Monty) and Orlando Jones (7-Up Ads) provide a little comedic flare to the movie, but they play small roles and thus leave you wanting much more. Jeremy Irons is probably the most poorly developed bad guy in recent movie history. He is, like Addy and Jones, barely in the film so there is no time for the viewer to develop any real feelings about him. He seems like a jerk, but when he's only on screen for about 5 minutes, there is no chance to make him into a true bad guy. But this film is dominated by Pearce. He is on screen the whole time and is the only one with any substantial lines or screen time.

This film really boils down to special effects. This is the only selling point of the movie and the only reason that anyone could really enjoy it. And honestly, the effects are only pretty good. The special effects don't break ground like with The Matrix and aren't horrible like in Plan 9 From Outer Space. The effects are somewhere in the middle between these two.

Overall, the film is somewhat of a disappointment. I didn't expect to be blown away by this movie, but I did expect a decent flick. But this movie is basically mediocre at best. Without any type of plot or character development, this film leaves you unsatisfied, much like the old lady from the Wendy's ads when she goes to McDonalds.

RATING: 41%