Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'The Time Machine' (2002)

Written by John Edward Betancourt

When it comes to remakes, I simply do not envy the folks behind the scenes that are in charge of reinventing a classic, due the wealth of stress that has to be hanging over their heads every step of the way. Because if they screw it up and produce a reimagining that is a critical dud and box office bomb, they are labeled as the person who ruined a beloved story through and through. But at the same time, the risk is worth the reward, because if they put together a magnificent remake, one that people flock to and declare to be as good as or better than the original, then they go down in history as an outright genius.
 
But, what we often forget, is that many remakes are made that quite frankly arrive with little fanfare. They don’t have a fanbase that takes to Twitter and any other social media platform to decry a desecration of the original and iconic story, and those that enjoy it don’t sing praises, they simply pay the freight and have a good time because this particular type of remake, is nothing more than sheer entertainment, the kind of movie that allows for you to kill a couple of hours where you outright enjoy yourself, and one such remake that meets that particular criteria arrived in theaters in 2002 by way of The Time Machine.
 
Now, the plot for this one treads through familiar territory since our main character, Alexander Hartdegen travels through time, finding his way into the past, present and future where he must help a band of humans known as the Eloi from the evil and wicked Morlocks and well, I think what makes this remake so inoffensive is that it stays true to the spirit of the original film and source material, all while offering up enough unique twists and turns to make this remake stand out on its own and really, it’s those subtle changes that quite frankly, allow for me to enjoy this movie whenever I find it on cable or pop it into my DVD Player.

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​Because in reality, this remake offers up a message, one that reminds us to always maintain our humanity despite the wonders of our technology, and much of that is expressed by way of the Morlocks, since they are twisted descendants of mankind who find themselves deformed thanks to the technologically advanced contingency plan they used when the Moon shattered, a disaster that was also caused by technology, and I think it’s quite cool to see that kind of depth present in a story that is grounded in the spirit of action and adventure and the wonders of this remake don’t end there.
 
Because I’m also a huge fan of the fact that it deals with loss and grief and temporal paradoxes for that matter as well, and all of that comes by way of Alexander since the loss of the love of his life is what brings about the genesis of his invention and his inability to process the fact that she is gone and that nothing can be done about that adds a new gravity to his journey through time since it’s in essence the most advanced attempt to escape pain that I’ve ever seen and thanks to Guy Pearce’s solid performance, this particular twist works well within the framework of the plot and makes his journey quite satisfying to say the least.
 
Of course, one cannot discuss this remake without discussing its special effects since they were a true staple of the original and thankfully, the effects here do the original proud. From the incredible sight of seeing our Moon in chunks high above the Earth, to the Über-Morlock, the effects are simply a delightful feast for the eyes and really when all is said and done, this movie is just plain fun. It’s filled with adventure and thoughtful moments and it doesn’t insult the original in the slightest and while may not go down as a classic, you won’t be bored when watching this one and it definitely elicits its own type of magic when you watch it and really, you can’t ask for much more from a remake, than that. 

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