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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Clockstoppers
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
2 stars out of 4
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This trippy time-travel saga is specifically targeted at a preteen
audience who will probably like it far better than their parents. The plot
revolves around the sci-fi idea of hypertime, a concept that catapults a person
so fast that time seems to freeze, allowing him to go, undetected, anywhere. The
hypertime device is hidden in a digital wristwatch that's accidentally
discovered by Zak Gibbs (Jesse Bradford) who desperately wants a vintage Mustang
and forages through the house for junk to sell on eBay. Checking to see if the
strange-looking watch - which was sent by a former student (French Stewart) to
Zak's physics-professor father (Robin Thomas) - works, Zak presses one of its
buttons and is catapulted into an accelerated version of reality. Which is way
cool! It even impresses Francesca (Paula Garces), a beautiful Venezuelan
exchange student who is 'way out of his league. Meanwhile, there's a sinister
conspiracy as subversive bad guys in dark suits, led by mysterious Mr. Gates
(Michael Biehn), covet the hypertime technology as a military weapon. It's too
bad the three writers - Rob Hedden, J. David Stem & David N. Weiss - didn't give
director Jonathan Frakes (#1 on "Star Trek: Next Generation") more inventive
hypertime adventures to work with instead of silly practical jokes played on a
meter-maid, bullies and a competitive DJ during a rave before the banal "Spy
Kids"-inspired sub-plot keys in. Perhaps to compensate for the pseudo-scientific
molecular alteration mumbo-jumbo, there's an inspirational lesson as the
absent-minded, workaholic father comes to appreciate his clever, if contentious
son. But the CGI time-travel effects and bike-riding stunts are awesome. On the
Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Clockstoppers" is a family-friendly 5, giving
new meaning to "killing time."
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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