Whether or not you want to go see Timeline, based on the book by Michael Crichton, depends on whether or not you want to see an adventure story with a little time travel thrown in for flavor. The premise of Timeline is that Professor Johnston, played by Billy Connolly, head of an archaeological dig in Castlegard, France, is discovered to be lost in the 14th century. His son, Chris, played by Paul Walker, and a few archaeologists from the dig, discover that a company called International Technology Corporation has stumbled on a wormhole to Castlegard, France in 1347.
Most of the movie consists of two almost separate plot lines: the attempt by our time-traveling heroes to rescue the professor and the attempt by the scientists to fix the time machine. As far as character development goes, there is a modicum of it, but only enough to ensure that the action is not one-dimensional. Timeline is a good old-fashioned action adventure movie, and it deserves to be enjoyed as such.
The science behind the time travel in Timeline is somewhat questionable. The device used is essentially a matter transporter that breaks people up into elementary particles and sends them through a wormhole to medieval France. OK, so it is very questionable. But the point of Timeline’s time travel is not the technology but how it deals with the paradoxes, or rather, how it avoids the paradoxes.
Timeline subscribes to the idea that anyone who travels into the past becomes a part of the past. In other words, any influence a time traveler might have on the course of events is no different from the influence anyone else has on the course of events.
The battle scenes in Timeline, which comprise most of the significant events of the movie, are done well. The backdrop for most of the movie is a battle in the Hundred Years’ War between the English and the French. The cinematography does an excellent job of showing just how devastating a cloud of arrows was to an opposing army.
More important than the visual effects to a movie is the quality of the acting. Walker is decent as the professor’s son and the main character, but some of the supporting characters steal the show. For example, Lambert Wilson, better known as the Merovingian from The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, is a very persuasive Arnaut de Cervole, leader of the French forces. Also, the previously unknown Anna Friel brings a unique fire and determination to her role of the French Lady Claire.
In the end, Timeline is a grade A roller coaster ride of a movie which strikes just the right balance between drama and action. I recommend seeing it—if not for the acting, then for the thrill of hanging on for the ride.
