March
29, 2002 | Some movies are immoderately enjoyable simply because
they don't live down to your worst expectations. Yes, I know, we critics
are supposed to walk into movies without any negative preconceptions,
and impartially judge each work on its own merits, and blah, blah, blah.
I have to admit, however, that I approached Clockstoppers, a
high-concept, teen-skewing sci-fi comedy-adventure, fully prepared for
something that stunk out loud. But I wound up being amused - and, yes,
grateful.
If,
like me, you've been turned off by the willy-nilly silliness of the
coming-attraction trailer, which promises something as aggressively
witless as a sub-par, live-action Saturday morning kid-TV show, take
heart. The screenplay credited to Rob Hedden, J. David Stem and David
N. Weiss isn't exactly sophisticated, but it's not unduly childish,
either. And director Jonathan Frakes, who knows a thing or two about
briskly paced and smarter-than-average sci-fi entertainment, keeps everything
light, lively and, more often than not, pleasantly exciting.
Just
in case you tuned in late: Frakes co-starred for several seasons on
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and directed the last two
Star Trek feature films. By this point, he likely is more than ready
to move beyond warp speed, and ratchet up to "hypertime."
A good thing, too, because hypertime, according to Clockstoppers,
is a fantastical process whereby a human being's speed is so drastically
accelerated that he or she is invisible to everyone else, and everyone
else appears to be frozen stiff to the hyper-speeding human. In short,
it's the speed at which my long-suffering editors dearly wish I would
write my reviews.
If
memory serves me correctly, this same gimmick was used in an old episode
of The Wild, Wild West. But never mind: It's a reasonably clever
premise, and Clockstoppers has a fair amount of fun with it.
Jesse
Bradford makes an appealing impression as Zak Gibbs, an enterprising
teen who's trying to raise money to buy a vintage Ford Mustang by purchasing
thrift-shop items that he repairs for resale on eBay. Trouble is, his
science-professor father (Robin Thomas) is too caught up with his teaching
and research work to spend much time with Zak, or to even notice what
a bitchin' set of wheels his son wants to purchase.
When
Dad goes off to yet another out-of-town science convention, he leaves
behind a cool-looking wristwatch that he received from a former student.
Zak accidentally gains possession of the timepiece, and slips it onto
his wrist. Then the really important stuff starts to happen, as Zak
quickly discovers that, as long he's wearing the watch, he and anyone
in close contact with him can enter - tah, dah! - hypertime.
What's
that you say? Yes, you in the red cape and the blue bodysuit! You want
to know if he's faster than a speeding bullet? Hah! He's so doggone
speedy, he can literally walk on water. So there.
At
first, Zak is content to while away hypertime by attending to relatively
innocuous pastimes - like impressing Francesca (Paula Garces), a beautiful
new classmate, by rapidly raking leaves in her yard. Or helping Meeker
(Garikayi Mutambirwa), his best friend, who needs all the help he can
get to win a DJ competition.
(Meeker,
it should be noted, represents a rather demeaning teen-movie stereotype
- the jivey African-American buddy of the white lead character - and
his appearance in this otherwise pleasant film is, at best, a minor
annoyance.)
Complications
arise, however, when Dopler (French Stewart), the former student, pops
up to retrieve his watch. Then the bad guys, led by an evil technology
tycoon (Michael Biehn) who financed Dopler's time-tripping in the first
place, kidnap Zak's father to further their wicked schemes. A happy
ending is delayed for a reasonable amount of time, but not so long that
Clockstoppers wears out its welcome.
The
supporting players are mostly first-rate - even Stewart, normally not
the most subtle of farceurs, is uncommonly restrained - and the special
effects are really nifty. Not being a physicist, I can't speak with
any authority about the weird science that propels the plot. It does
seem to me, though, that anyone moving at hypertime speed might run
the risk of self-immolation. And I'm almost certain that if someone
moving at hypertime speed tried to physically adjust or even slightly
move someone moving at normal speed - well, it wouldn't be pretty. But,
to paraphrase Michael York's memorable advice to the audience in Austin
Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the people who made Clockstoppers
didn't worry about that, so it's probably a good thing if you don't
worry about it, either.