Hey gang, Valkor here. Filmmakers’ attempting a film about time travel is one lofty endeavor – especially when you’re dealing with a loop. In the end, you could walk away with something entertaining like “Back to the Future” or something of a jumbled mess like “Source Code”. With the next film on the MediaView deck, Paradox, you get something that’s not great, but watchable and entertaining.
“Paradox” centers on a group of scientists – Jim (Adam Huss), Gale (Zoe Bell), Lewis (Bjorn Alexander), William (Brian Flaccus) and Randy (Michael Aaron Milligan), who have all been chosen by a guy name Landau (Malik Yoba) to take part in a top-secret time travel experiment. The film opens with Randy, who is a frantic mess, placing a call to Landau, warning him about project 880. However, Landau never picks up and the call goes to voicemail. He then places a call, to what would appear to be himself. And we learn it’s him because after the call is placed and his mother answers, we see past Randy taking a shower. We can assume the mother isn’t convinced of the caller because she soon hangs up. However, we do see a dark figure lurking within the building through the use of the building's surveillance cameras. And that figure eventually catches up with Randy, shooting him point blank.
We then switch back to the past, where the team has gathered to kick off their time travel experiment. William was supposed to be the first volunteer, but Landau took a pass on him because he doesn’t look all that fit. So he chooses Jim to take his place, but not without objection, though the decision still stands. Jim is sent forward one hour in time and when he arrives, the room is a mess with blood and bodies everywhere. Not only that, but someone has set off the room’s self-destruct sequence. After stumbling throughout the building he comes across Lewis, who gives him his camera and Lewis tells him that he’s recorded everything. On top of that, he sees Gale, who is being dragged into an elevator but the doors close before he can reach them. With the room set to explode any minute, Jim heads back in time to present day to warn the others about the dangers that await them in the future.
Once he’s back and his mind is sorted out, they begin the process of trying to determine what happened in the future, starting with the video camera. Soon after, they attempt to deduce who is the masked killer and what’s his purpose in all of this. To go any further would seriously ruin the plot and as much as I enjoy doing that, there are times I have to hold myself back from that. And this is one of those times.
The Good:
Paradox, while on the low-budget side, is still a solid sci-fi thriller worth checking out. The story takes some time to settle into, but as the film progresses, it all starts to make sense. And it wraps up in something of a climatic fashion, with a bit of a twist. The pacing could have been better, but it wasn’t terrible (believe me, I’ve sat through much worse) and the small dosage of special of effects was tolerable. Given the budget, I wasn’t expecting anything over the top, so what was given, I’d say was successful in helping to move things along. The acting was so-so, nothing great, but so long as the performers are capable of moving the story along without me falling asleep, then it's a job well done! In the end, I enjoyed Paradox; it’s not the greatest time-travel story out there, but if you’re looking for something to pass the time, then definitely give this one a go.
The Bad:
We take things back to the pacing, which again it’s not terrible, but some scenes could have been edited tighter for a much smoother ride. Such as the overly dramatic scenes with Jim and Gale, for example, the scene where Jim talks about his past, it’s not really needed. A lot of the argument scenes could have also been trimmed a bit too. There’s also a part that kinda took me out of the moment that involves William’s head; we see it get taken off by the time machine, and it’s where his body ended up… makes no sense as to how it go there.
The Ugly:
William’s body has plenty of chunks coming out of it… it looks weird and gross, but also kinda tasty. Like what did they use for that effect?
“Paradox” is available now on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Google Play and other digital formats. And if you’re into time travel flicks, then you won’t be too disappointed with this one. While it does have its rough patches, it’s certainly won’t waste your time. And out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving “Paradox” a 3.5.
