Hey gang, Valkor here. It’s been a while since I’ve done a film review, seeing as how I’ve been working on the back-end of the site and giving it a fresh new design. And now that things are running smoothly, we can continue on our MediaView journey. Next up, we have a predictable time-travel film, but not a waste of time. Check it out it’s Time Loop. Some minor spoilers ahead.
Time Loop centers on a young scientist named Ricky, who unbeknownst to him, was working on a time machine with his dad. When they switch on the machine, it appears nothing has happened. Or so we think. As a series of events occur starting with the appearance of a little pig, then it’s the theft of Ricky’s Vespa, the winning of a lottery, and the meeting of a French scientist, all of which leads up to the death of Ricky’s father. Now, Ricky must travel back in time - a few times - piecing together events that lead up to his father’s death and figuring out how to stop it from happening. But as you watch these events play out, you’ll see that you cannot stop one’s fate.
The last film I watched that had a similar premise was Triangle (although Back to the Future might be a slightly better comparison), only that film was terrifying, and the ending was a bit of a mind fuck. Time Loop won’t blow anyone away, but if it does enough to sustain one’s interest, then I’d say it’s a job well done. And with that, let’s dive right into the TOV Breakdown!
The Good:
I’m going to jump ahead and say that the acting is pretty cheesy in Time Loop. However, the story and how events play out makes this one worth watching. The time travel bits fit well together, though towards the middle it gets a little confusing. But as the film continues to play out, all things become clear. The film is mad predictable from the jump. I mean, when Ricky’s Vespa gets stolen, you know another version of him stole it. And that was my ongoing question as I continued to watch the film–what did Ricky do to cause this? Last, the film is visually appealing as there are some breathtaking shots of the Italian countryside. There were a few times I had to pause to appreciate some of those lovely overhead shots. I did my best to steer clear of spoilers because there’s a lot to take in as you watch Time Loop. But know this, if you’re distracted by bad acting, turn away from this one. Otherwise, you’re in for a treat if you stay with it.
The Bad:
Again, the acting is not the worst I’ve seen, but it’s up there. To me, it’s bad, but not bad enough that I wanted to switch the film off. Next, is the predictability of the film; Again, not a distraction. However, it does take a lot out of the guessing when you have a feeling of what’s about to happen or how things are going to play out. And then you discover that you were right. An easy, not too spoilery event is Ricky’s girlfriend making out with who appears to be the woman’s boss (or coworker). Only to find out it was another version of Ricky all along. You can guess it’s him since you only see the shadowy figures making out. My only question was: where did Ricky get that hat? And then boom! Question answered.
The Ugly:
N/A
Time Loop doesn’t break any new grounds with time-travel stories. And although I found the acting to be shoddy, the film was still plenty entertaining. If you’re even slightly interested, then you can check out the film on Amazon Instant and RedBox on-demand. Until then, out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving Time Loop a 3.
