In Time Review

A great new sci-fi epic, or a disappointment?
To its credit, In Time had a heck of a lot of potential surrounding it in the build-up to its release in cinemas last Autumn. Boasting Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried as its leads and a supporting cast featuring stars such as Olivia Wilde and Cillian Murphy. Sadly, though, even such a prestigious list of names on the cover of the film's DVD won't fast compensate for the lack of a compelling narrative to drive your through the sci-fi guff, and once you're past the impressive vistas and setpieces, it becomes easy to realise that its drama is nowhere near the level of Inception or Blade Runner or indeed any other modern greats. The premise is indeed interesting, centralising itself on a world where time and lifespan have become currency for goods and essentials, making those with the most time on their hands the ones who hold power, but aside from a handful of dark contemplations of the effect of this shift on society, screenplay author and director Andrew Niccol does little to actually investigate or manipulate this intriguing new sci-fi mechanic. As such, we're raced from one meaningless conflict to another while Timberlake's character tries to find out how to change the system. Even by the end everything is left on a cliffhanger blatantly suffering from a dose of sequelitis, which seems unlikely to manifest itself with any form of success as the movie met so little commercial or critical acclaim. Indeed, you can do a lot better than In Time in terms of defining your standards for the sci-fi genre and modern movies in general, so unless you need a time-filler desperately, stick well clear.
2/5