Saturday, October 08, 2005

A SOUND OF THUNDER

Time travelers disrupt the evolutionary track in the sci-fi thriller A SOUND OF THUNDER. A group of time-traveling scientists lead macho-millionaires back to pre-historic times for the thrill of encountering a T-Rex. Since the scientists have visited this specific place and time on several occasions, safety isn’t much of a question as they have all of the events calculated. As long as the participants stay on the charted course, everything will go just as planned. As you may have guessed, this doesn’t happen, as two adventurers veer off the path and alter the past. And if there’s one thing science fiction has taught us, if you alter the past, you alter the future.

Make no mistake, A SOUND OF THUNDER is a terrible film, but one which I enjoyed for the most part. The film took me back to my childhood, where second-rate science fiction, horror films would dazzle me. The special effects in A SOUND OF THUNDER are on the same level of the monster movies of the 80’s. The effects aren’t second-rate, but probably third or fourth rate, with various creatures resembling a hybrid of insect, bird, reptile and dinosaur. The creatures and circumstances get more bizarre and diverse as the story leaps from one time wave to the next. There are no distinguishable ideas in the movie, but rather a sense of joy to top one outlandish creature or scene with the next. Burns and McCormack seem to be acting in a different film, emphasizing a serious struggle and predicament, while Ben Kingsley hits his role dead-on projecting a madman who’s only concerned with the bottom line. A SOUND OF THUNDER is a goofy, brainless exercise, which despite my inner child exuberance, I can not recommend.

Grade: C-

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