ARQ

Time after time.

(2016) Science Fiction (Netflix) Robbie Amell, Rachael Taylor, Shaun Benson, Gray Powell, Jacob Neayem, Adam Butcher, Tantoo Cardinal, Jamie Spichuk. Directed by Tony Elliott

 

There are times in our lives where we all want a do-over. What if you had to do over the same three hours and every time you did, you still managed to muck it up?

Renton (Amell), a scientist, wakes up with a gasp. He is in bed with his former flame Hannah (Taylor) when masked men barge into their bedroom. And as things turn out, Renton ends up dead on the floor. But then he wakes up again.

He quickly realizes he’s caught in a time loop, one which is lasting precisely three hours, fourteen minutes and fifteen seconds (math majors will get the significance). It’s the near future and in this dystopian vision, a single corporation essentially rules Earth. Renton has been working on a new energy source that will break the hold of said evil corporation and save the planet – the air is already unbreathable.

The baddies want to confiscate Renton’s experiment and kill the inventor of the device that can threaten their employer’s stranglehold on the world and it seems they are succeeding but Renton remembers what is going on from loop to loop and Hannah is beginning to too. Can the two of them figure out how to break out of the loop and use the device Renton has invented to buy freedom from corporate tyranny?

This is a bare bones Canadian production that doesn’t utilize a whole lot of effects or a lot of cast. It mostly takes place in several rooms of a single house, and of course there are no costume changes. Still, one gets the sense of a large budget than what they likely had. Kudos should go to the production design crew for making this look apocalyptic and futuristic without resorting to a whole lot of CGI.

Amell has mostly a lot of small screen experience and that’s fine for something like this that is destined mainly for streaming and home viewing. His performance is solid but not as inspiring as I would have liked in a character like his. I’ve enjoyed his work on TV but he hasn’t yet shown that he can take a feature and carry it yet. Taylor is more intriguing here, but to be fair she has a lot more to work with than Amell, whose character is essentially sci-fi dystopian hero 101.

Like most movies set in a time loop (the most famous being Groundhog Day) there is a certain amount of repetitiveness here that is inevitable. Some movies with this theme handle it better than others; this one is definitely on the lower end of the scale in that regard. The middle third of the movie feels a bit like a slog in places.

Still, as Netflix entertainment goes there is a certain amount of niche filling that this satisfies. Those who like sci-fi and time travel conundrums will probably end up liking this as well. Mainstream audiences may be less enthusiastic but Amell is hunky, Taylor is gorgeous and the baddies are nasty enough to make this a worthwhile investment of time for certain Netflix subscribers.

REASONS TO GO: There are some interesting concepts here.
REASONS TO STAY: As with many time travel films, there is a lot of repetition.
FAMILY VALUES:  A fair amount of violence and some sensuality.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT:  The film played at the Toronto Film Festival before opening on Netflix.
BEYOND THE THEATER: Netflix
CRITICAL MASS: As of 10/11/16: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet. Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Synchronicity
FINAL RATING: 6/10
NEXT: Blair Witch

Advertisement

A Good Day to Die Hard

Why some guys will go see A Good Day to Die Hard.

(2013) Action (20th Century Fox) Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Yulia Snigir, Cole Hauser, Amaury Nolasco, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Anne Vyalitsyna, Rasha Bukvic, Melissa Tang, Catherine Kresge, Sergei Kolesnikov, April Grace. Directed by John Moore

One of the most successful action franchises of all time is the Die Hard series. Each one pits New York cop John McClane (Willis) against a parade of really nasty bad guys who over the years have included Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons, Timothy Olyphant and William Sadler.

The fifth in the franchise isn’t located in the States. In fact, the action takes place all the way East in Russia (Moscow) and the Ukraine. McClane goes over to the former Evil Empire to see his estranged son Jack (Courtney) who is going on trial there for unknown charges. McClane feels a lot of guilt for the chilly relationship he has with Jack and not only does he want to see what he can do to help his son get off the hook (unlikely) but also what he can do to mend some fences (even more unlikely).

And of course, this being a Die Hard movie all hell breaks loose. Jack is getting ready to testify against a former billionaire named Komarov (Koch) who is on trial on some unspecified corruption charge, but the new minister of defense Chagarin (Kolesnikov) – who was once Komarov’s friend and business partner – is anxious for his old friend to remain silent.

So when an attempt is made to break Komarov out of jail, Jack goes along for the ride only he’s not just a passenger, he’s driving the car – Jack it turns out is a CIA operative and they’re very eager to get their hands on a file containing some damming information about our old friend Chagarin. Unfortunately, Jack shows up in the midst of all the chaos and in trying to help throws Jack’s carefully made arrangements out the door.

Naturally Jack is none too pleased to see his father but now he needs to get Komarov, the file and Komarov’s beautiful daughter (Snigir) out of the country but with Jack’s partners dead, it looks like it will be Russia vs. the McClane’s and as red-blooded Americans we know how all of this is going to turn out – yup, into a showdown at Chernobyl. Literally.

In all honesty, this is a movie that’s like the previous films in the franchise more than it is a Die Hard movie. Yeah, all the elements are there but it just doesn’t have the energy and inspiration the first four movies in the franchise had.

Willis continues to be the Energizer Bunny of action heroes. Throw him through plate glass windows, shoot him, toss him from great heights and he’ll just dust himself off, wipe the blood from a couple of cuts on his bald pate and he’ll just head on to the next action sequence. There were times during the movie that he got out of a situation that should have killed him and I thought “Oh come on!” I would much rather McClane use his cleverness or street smarts to get him out of a situation where he could be killed rather than have him emerge unscathed from a situation in which he should be killed. That takes us out of the movie and descends into self-parody.

Willis has good chemistry with Courtney. While the father-son bonding sequences are a bit weak (although one where Willis asks him if he wants a hug and he responds “We’re not exactly a family of huggers” is pretty good), the two play off of each other nicely. The discord between father and son is palpable but not really explained very well other than “he worked long hours, was never around blah blah blah” which sounds more like the whining of a spoiled brat than of an adult who is so busy working he has no relationships whatsoever. Hmm.

Most of the cast isn’t terribly well-known other than by savvy film buffs but they get the job done. In fact if you’re looking for mindless entertainment, you could do a lot worse than this. It’s just that it doesn’t measure up to any of the first four movies in the franchise so you might think harder about renting one of them instead of spending the bucks to see this in theaters – unless you’re a Die Hard diehard of course.

REASONS TO GO: This is Bruce Willis’ signature role and he’s always worth seeing in it.

REASONS TO STAY: Weakest film in the series to date.

FAMILY VALUES:  As with most Die Hard movies there’s a ton of violence and plenty of foul language.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: During the road trip every car after the original rental had a crushed can of Red Bull on the dashboard.

CRITICAL MASS: As of 2/25/13: Rotten Tomatoes: 16% positive reviews. Metacritic: 28/100; the reviews are pretty damn bad.

COMPARISON SHOPPING: Octopussy

FINAL RATING: 6/10

NEXT: Picture Me