After merely seeing the trailer for Timeline, my expectations for the movie were pretty low. To my surprise, Timeline ended up being even worse than I initially anticipated. The film, based on a Michael Crichton novel described as a "mystery suspense thriller," lacks all three of those elements. In fact, a more suitable label for the piece would be something like "predictable lackluster bore." Almost every aspect of this movie is clich??d and cheesy, including the scenery and the special effects, which could have been spectacular if there were done properly.
Timeline is about a group of archeology students who discover that their professor (Billy Connolly) has traveled back in time and gotten stuck in 14th century France. Of course, the students and the professor's son (Paul Walker) end up using the time-travel machine to go back to 1357 to save the professor, which proves to be a more difficult task than they initially planned, since they end up in the midst of a war between France and England.
The scientific explanations for the time travel are rather vague, which leaves the viewer wondering exactly how the mysterious "wormhole" that the time machine techies used works. On that note, the scene where the clan of students and the professor's son are being transported by the machine is absolutely hilarious -- essentially a big gust of wind twirls around and all of the actors try to put on their best "help me, I'm being sucked through time and it kind of hurts" faces.
The character development and the progression of relationships between the characters remain at surface level throughout the entire movie. Paul Walker seems less concerned about his father's well being than he is about impressing the female archeologist (Frances O'Conner) whom he loves, even though her only passion is for her work.
On that note, the dynamics between Walker and O'Conner seem strained throughout the movie -- the attempt at adding an element of romance to spice up this film fails miserably. It is obvious where their relationship is going to end up from the moment Walker oh-so-romantically offers O'Conner a beer while she is meticulously working on an archeological dig.
Another one of the time travelers (Gerard Butler) pulls off the role of rugged, fearless leader very well, at least in comparison to the other actors in the film. But, he is also stuck with some of the cheesiest lines in the whole movie, particularly when he flirts with Lady Claire (Anna Friel). The two exchange a dialogue that is an odd combination of greeting card messages and cheesy pickup lines -- not the type of verbal exchange that one would expect for a courting couple in the 14th century.
The most likeable of the traveling clan is the Frenchman (Rossif Sutherland) whose purpose is to translate for the others, even though only a few phrases of French are spoken throughout the entire movie. Unfortunately, this adorable Frenchman does not get much screen time, as a result of one of the rare surprising twists in the movie.
The last of the notable characters is the physicist (Ethan Embry), who waits back at the time travel station for his friends to return home. His feelings of anxiety for the well-being of the others often come off more as a childlike hyperactivity.
Just like any other time travel film, the characters need to be very careful in order to avoid changing history. This issue is addressed in Timeline, but the archeologists end up breaking this important rule of time travel several times. Most viewers will probably realize exactly what these time travel infringements will be within the first few scenes of the movie, but being able to predict later events in this movie is a common occurrence.
If you do end up seeing this movie, create a little game for yourself and see how many minutes it takes you to figure out exactly what happens in the ending. Bonus points if you eventually start anticipating lines before the actors articulate them.
Instead of paying for this movie ticket, buy the Michael Crichton novel and allow your imagination to run wild. By doing this, you will not be subjected to mediocre special effects, bland dialogue, and Paul Walker calling a 14th century Frenchman "dude."
