In 1893, H. G. Wells shows his friends his latest creation: A time machine. Unbeknownst to him, one of those friends, Dr. John Stevenson, has been going around London murdering women under the assumed name Jack the Ripper. After being discovered by the police, Stevenson uses Wells' time machine to travel to the year 1979. Realizing what his former friend has done, H. G. is hot on his trail, and, with the help of a young lady named Amy, he tries to put a stop to Stevenson and his murderous ways for good.
"Every age is the same. It's only love that makes any of them bearable."
When I first heard of Time After Time, I thought it sounded incredibly exciting. Jack Ripper let loose in the 20th century - That sounds like a fairly awesome flick, and I suppose, in certain ways, at certain times, it was pretty good. But it just wasn't good enough. They could have done SO much more with this material. It's a shame, really.
When a film is based on truth, or set in a time or year before filming actually took place, I tend to pick it to death. It is VERY easy to make a mistake, and I'm afraid that this movie did indeed make a few. For example, in the film, Wells mentions that he is divorced. Though by 1979, this would be true, in 1893, it was not (Wells divorced his first wife in 1894). Another thing that I noticed was that Wells, and Stevenson for that matter, seemed to have very few questions about 1979, and what events occured between 1893 and 1979. It was like barely anything had changed for them, especially in Stevenson's case. He didn't seem phased by the future at all. If I were from 1893, and I was suddenly thrust into 1879, I'm quite sure I'd be somewhat scared and utterly confused about where I was and what was going on around me. They seemed to fit in almost perfectly, like nothing had changed. I don't think so...
"I'm a twentieth century woman. I have a career and a mind of my own. Be reasonable. How am I gonna make it in 1893?"
**Spoliers** Sorry. I usually try not to include spoiler sections, but I'm afraid I can't avoid it on this movie. Where, Oh where, to start? Well, it's unconcentional, but we'll begin at the end. How annoying! Knowing that Amy Robbins was the name of Wells' second wife, it was obvious that Amy would give-up life in 1979 for love, and travel back to 1893 with Wells. What I kept thinking was, "What about her parents? Her friends? She can't just leave!" Now, of course, one could argue that she had no family or friends, but she did have a job. What about that? Did she not think about these things before leaving? Evidently not.
Something else that greatly bugged me about this movie is that H. G. falls in love with Amy, and her with him, ever so quickly. Now, I'm all for love at first sight and all that, but these two people, especially her, weren't particularly lovable, and they certainly wouldn't have gone for each other. I suppose this is debatable, however. I mean, we didn't see everything that happened between them while they were together. A miracle could have occured off screen, though I doubt it.
And finally, back to the ending. It was kinda confusing. I mean, I understand what happened to Stevenson, I think, but I don't understand how it happened, if you get my drift, which you won't unless you see the movie, which I'm not sure I'd recommend doing. The ending doesn't even leave the film historically accurate, as, in the movie, people now know who Jack the Ripper was/is. Oh, I don't know, and I don't care to continue.
The acting. Well, to be honest, I actually quite liked Malcolm McDowell as Wells. I think he did a pretty good job. David Warner, who played Stevenson, I loved. He plays a menacing villain. Warner has this fabulously deep voice, much like Alan Rickman's. I hear him talk all day. Then there's Mary Steenburgen. She seems to play the sam character over and over again, and there's just something about that character that I don't like. I can't put my finger on it... Ah, well.
To be fair, at stages within Time After Time, I was genuinely into the film. But at others, I just wanted to switch it off. Perhaps I may appreciate it more after a second viewing, though I can't bring myself to watch it again just yet. 6/10
Trivia: Time After Time was Corey Feldman's feature film debut. He was seven at the time of filming.
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