In a nutshell a serial killer pops up every 9 years starting in 1988 and a cop, to the detriment of his family life and eventually his career, dedicates himself to solving the mystery. It's a good film if you're bored and in the mood for a time travel flick. Now, like all time travel films there are flaws, some you have to ponder over for a while. The ones I'm about to mention take little to no knowledge of science to call out. So the killer is sent back in time to essentially murder not only the originator of a domestic terror group before he can spread his message too far, but also key members of his Cadre who will apparently one day play a key role in attacks or the spread of his ideology in the future of 2024, even though at the moment of her killing them, they are seemingly innocent and ordinary. The method of killing is a three pronged device that injects an isotope into the back of the victims neck that can then be triggered from the future to liquefy their brains. First off, if the killer had used conventional methods to kill them, the police would have been interested, but not Uber intrigued by an isotope that didn't exist or a method of death that made ebola look tame. Also the killer didn't even actually murder them, just got close enough to inject the isotope, which was then activated in the future via a computer. Why the delay? Which brings me to the attacks. As shown later on when the main character digs up a person he suspects was a victim, the prongs go so deep they actually left holes in the vertebra of the neck. You expect me to believe someone went up, stabbed them with such force their vertebrae was punctured, and they just walk it off, think, "that was weird " and go about their normal lives telling no one, until the kill switch in the future was activated? The movie expects you to think so because the first three victims, a bus driver, a short order cook, and a concert pianist, all die having obviously been attacked at some point prior and none seem any worse for wear or concerned.
I felt the film was ok, but ultimately anticlimactic and unsatisfying. It's a diversion but if you want great time travel in a film, go watch Primer or even Timecop...it has explosions.
I felt the film was ok, but ultimately anticlimactic and unsatisfying. It's a diversion but if you want great time travel in a film, go watch Primer or even Timecop...it has explosions.