SPOILER: A group of students become trapped inside a mysterious cave where they discover time passes differently underground than on the surface. A group of students venture into the deep caves of remote Texas to locate a favorite archaeology professor who inexplicably has gone missing while searching for the Fountain of Youth. In the course of their pursuit, the group unwittingly rappels into a break in the space-time continuum, where time passes much slower than on the surface. With no hope for rescue, they descend further into the cave and uncover the most coveted urban legend in history and find themselves in the crossfire for its control. I went into this movie with low expectations, as a way to zone out for a few. Odd plot, nothing to realistic, so I thought I'll watch 5-10 mins and then turn off and go back to doing other stuff. The movie sucked me in though and had enough twists that I didn't expect to keep me interested until the end. <br/><br/>Is it a realistic movie? No, not really. <br/><br/>Is it a good science fiction movie? Yes.<br/><br/>Does it deserve a sequel and larger budget? Yes. BOTTOM LINE: Interesting premise makes ordinary "oops we shouldn't have done this" film into a pretty good time-paradox entry. B+<br/><br/>PREMISE & LOGIC: There are places on Earth where people get lost and never found (eg, Bermuda Triangle) because time moves slower there. This means thousands of years can pass outside these places but only a few hours pass inside. This is one of those places, with layers of time paradox within. Logic can be suspended as long as writing is consistent and follows through. This film delivers because it is not simply an excuse for appealing teens to be hunted in terror, but rather is the gateway to a multitude of possible outcomes. <br/><br/>CHARACTERS: I get them, in a one-dimensional fashion. Many such 1-D characters are unlikeable because they're cliches, caricatures or just obnoxious. Here, they are just ordinary enough to enjoy, and just extraordinary enough to believe in their ability to survive. Nothing unique, but the writers kept it simple and pleasant. Refreshingly, the cast does not engage in social commentary distractions, so dialogue is driven by nothing more high-minded than situation and attachment. <br/><br/>PLOT: The trajectory is fine, and the outcome and resolutions satisfying enough, given who these people are and what's going on. However, and there is a however, the movie tries to do too much. While indeed there must be tragedy to overcome into triumph, some of the "Flintstones" scenes were too simplistic to be so long. The multiple layers of time compression were also just so much window dressing, with no exposition beyond showing it. So it ends up, even with a unique ending, like a pretty good episode of the old Irwin Allen LOST IN SPACE, which is not a bad thing!<br/><br/>OVERALL: Setting up these likeable characters, and leaving aspects of time-slip unexplored, added up to me desiring this to be a pilot for a TV series, which is how it plays, rather than a self-contained movie experience. It reminds me a bit of Sliders, though that cast was more charismatic, and one might rightly also say it should continue episodically like Quantum Leap or Time Tunnel.
Eiddwdarbe replied
291 weeks ago