TIMECOP
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael John Legeros
(Universal)
Directed by Peter Hyams (NARROW MARGIN, THE PRESIDIO, RUNNING
SCARED, 2010, OUTLAND, CAPRICORN ONE)
Written by Mark Verheiden, based on the Dark Horse comic series
Cast Jean-Claude Van Damme
Ron Silver
Mia Sara
Bruce McGill
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for language, violence, and one sex
scene.)
Running Time 98 minutes
====
You can count the number of decent time travel movies on two hands and, unfortunately, TIMECOP isn't one of them. But don't blame the Van Damme man--director Peter Hyams deserves all the credit for this only okay trip back to the future.
Based on the Dark Horse comic series, the story introduces the Time Enforcement Agency, created in 1994 to police existing (!) time travel technology. The agency's stance is simple: no one goes back to get rich or get even. Cut to 2004 and top agent Max Walker (Van Damme) has just returned from 1929, with his former partner in chains for trying to make a deal in the Depression. The verdict is guilt and the sentence is death--but not before Max learns of a bigger conspiracy involving a U.S. senator (Silver) who's traveling time to fund his run for the presidency.
What sounds confusing is really a gas, courtesy of a smart script by comics writer Mark Verheiden. Lay people may have a tough time navigating the narrative, but the story makes perfect sense to anyone raised on Marvel Comics and "The Fantastic Four." Verheiden also includes a double does of humor, ranging from a slam on Van Damme's accent to a virtual reality gag that's virtually worth the price of admission.
Too bad the direction isn't.
Peter Hyams is an old sci-fi hack who directed OUTLAND, 2010, and O.J. Simpson in CAPRICORN ONE. But TIMECOP gets away from him and the result is a goofy tone with zero realism (nobody can shoot to hit) and too many (poorly filmed) fight scenes. In fact, most of the action sequences are pretty pathetic. The high low-point is a absurd finale that has three or four or fifteen characters climbing all over a rain-swept roof. At night.
And what's with those silly looking "future cars?" Is someone remaking SLEEPER on a nearby lot?
Acting abilities are all over the place. Both Ron Silver and Bruce McGill (as the TEA head) are in top form. Van Damme needs work, no duh, but he's three times better than co-star Mia Sara, who plays his wife. Badly.
TIMECOP wraps with a happy ending you can see a year off. Missing: a humorous coda explaining just how the happy ending is supposed to work.
BOTTOM LINE: Time travel is always a blast, even with poorly staged
sequences of Jean-Claude Van Damme as a kick-boxing
"time cop." Think of a comic book with good writing and
lousy art.
Grade: C+
.
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