Time
Machine is a retake of the 1960 film of the same title,
inspired by the 1895 novella by H. G. Wells and directed by
his great-grandson Simon Wells. Cinematic advances are evidently
the sole purpose of the retake. Indeed, the story resembles
last year's retake of Planet
of the Apes. Mechanical Engineering Professor
Alexander Hartdegen (played by Guy Pearce) of Columbia University
begins the film by losing track of time, as he has a date
in Central Park with his fiancée Emma (played by Sienna
Guillory), whom he wants to marry. After he finally meets
Emma and proposes, however, a robber appears with a gun to
claim his wallet, watch, and ring. Hartdegen struggles with
the thief, a shot is fired, and Emma is dead. He then becomes
a recluse, working on something for four years. He doubtless
believes that the untimely death would not have occurred if
he had been more punctual, so be becomes obsessed with time
and builds a time machine. When he sits on the seat of his
time machine for a dry run, he tries to go backward in time
in order to prevent the murder. Nevertheless, after a passing
coach kills Emma when he goes backward, he decides instead
to go forward in time. Computerized cinematic advances are
then put to good use, as we see the evolution of the planet
from the starting point of the first decade of the twentieth
century to sometime near 850,000 years, when the earth has
been devastated because the moon disintegrated and fell on
earth. Humans are now of two separate species. Eloi, which
appear to be primitive humans, are on the surface of the planet,
but Morlocks, led by Uber-Morlock (played by Jeremy Irons),
inhabit the world below the surface. Most Morlocks resemble
evolutionarily advanced frogs, who conduct occasional cannibalistic
hunting forays. Upon arrival among the Eloi, Hartdegen is
immediately befriended by Mara (played by Samantha Mumba),
who in due course is abducted by one of the Morlocks along
with other Eloi. Surprised that the Eloi do not fight back,
Hartdegen then changes from an absentminded scientist to an
aggressive fighter. He then goes underground to save Mara,
meets Uber-Morlock, and decides to use his time machine as
a trap to annihilate the underground creatures. As he appears
at the surface with Mara, he seems to have found a world where
he is happy. The original scene at his home in New York then
reappears; his former housekeeper and best friend remark that
the good professor has been gone a week or so and that perhaps
he has found a happier place. MH
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