A nice little flick with an interesting premise, only marred by an obviously low budget which is spent on a couple of hefty explosions. In my mind, an original idea or two are much more important than the latest mega-expensive special effects in a film; I would take one speck of originality over some god-awful extravaganza like THE HAUNTING remake any day. Thankfully, RETROACTIVE has this originality, with a premise that plays like a mean-spirited variant on GROUNDHOG DAY (before you accuse it of being just a rip-off, just remember that the writers of THE X-FILES weren't opposed to using the idea for one of their episodes either). Although it descends into cheesy territory occasionally, with some dire effects in the time travel sequences, the central idea is sound and the film is thus consistently entertaining.
The big twist here is that with GROUNDHOG DAY, Bill Murray had the repeated opportunity to gradually change his life for the better through the film. In this film, the actions of Karen, the heroine of the piece, just keep making things worse and worse. What starts out as a single homicide turns into a massive shootout which leaves bloodied victims everywhere, and eventually a whole family are killed when a petrol station explodes. As the death toll keeps rising, Karen must repeatedly transport herself back through time to try and prevent all this occurring. Of course, things become ever more complex, with even the murderer, Frank, going through the machine at one point to change history.
The acting may not be particularly impressive in this film, but it is at least passable. Kylie Travis is the beautiful yet strong (both in the physical and mental sense) heroine, forever fighting for the good cause and trying to thwart our resident psycho in his tracks. This particular psychopath is played by James Belushi, better known for his mild-mannered turns in family fare like K9 and others. Belushi is therefore difficult to take seriously in his antagonistic role, yet physically he looks the part and he makes his southern drawl particularly irritating. His presence manages to be an imposing, if not nasty, one. Further down the cast, Shannon Whirry, better known for appearing in late-night Channel 5 erotica, plays Belushi's abused wife, and has quite a bad role: she's repeatedly killed, gets little dialogue, and no make up. Frank Whaley is amusing but far too young as the inventor of the time travel device, while M. Emmet Walsh puts in a frankly embarrassing cameo appearance.
Okay, so there are plot holes galore, but this is the case with any film that focuses on time travel. The limited budget is stretched tight with some nicely spectacular explosions that wouldn't look out of place in a blockbuster, no doubt provided by the money left over from the re-use of the sets. There's a lot of violence and shooting, to keep action fans happy, and a good ending. This isn't a brilliant film by any means, but it's an interesting and fun one to watch. I would sum it up thus: brilliant story, middling execution.
The big twist here is that with GROUNDHOG DAY, Bill Murray had the repeated opportunity to gradually change his life for the better through the film. In this film, the actions of Karen, the heroine of the piece, just keep making things worse and worse. What starts out as a single homicide turns into a massive shootout which leaves bloodied victims everywhere, and eventually a whole family are killed when a petrol station explodes. As the death toll keeps rising, Karen must repeatedly transport herself back through time to try and prevent all this occurring. Of course, things become ever more complex, with even the murderer, Frank, going through the machine at one point to change history.
The acting may not be particularly impressive in this film, but it is at least passable. Kylie Travis is the beautiful yet strong (both in the physical and mental sense) heroine, forever fighting for the good cause and trying to thwart our resident psycho in his tracks. This particular psychopath is played by James Belushi, better known for his mild-mannered turns in family fare like K9 and others. Belushi is therefore difficult to take seriously in his antagonistic role, yet physically he looks the part and he makes his southern drawl particularly irritating. His presence manages to be an imposing, if not nasty, one. Further down the cast, Shannon Whirry, better known for appearing in late-night Channel 5 erotica, plays Belushi's abused wife, and has quite a bad role: she's repeatedly killed, gets little dialogue, and no make up. Frank Whaley is amusing but far too young as the inventor of the time travel device, while M. Emmet Walsh puts in a frankly embarrassing cameo appearance.
Okay, so there are plot holes galore, but this is the case with any film that focuses on time travel. The limited budget is stretched tight with some nicely spectacular explosions that wouldn't look out of place in a blockbuster, no doubt provided by the money left over from the re-use of the sets. There's a lot of violence and shooting, to keep action fans happy, and a good ending. This isn't a brilliant film by any means, but it's an interesting and fun one to watch. I would sum it up thus: brilliant story, middling execution.