*Edit* Reposting this, as I accidentally put the review up too early, it’s OK now, so read on McDuff.
We posted the trailer for Time Travel is Dangerous the other day and it looked good. It’s an indie movie from British director, Chris Reading.
Time Travel is Dangerous stars Ruth Syratt, Megan Stevenson, Sophie Thompson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Mark Heap, Jane Horrocks, Laura Aikman, Guy Henry, Tony Way, Brian Bovell, Kiell Smith-Byone and Jonny Vegas. It’s a who’s who of British talent.
Reading directs, and I mentioned that he directed a short Alien movie for Fox. Anna-Elizabeth and Hillary Shakespeare wrote the screenplay, with Ruth Syratt credited for the story.
The Story
This is a mockumentary about time travel:
Best friends Ruth and Megan run a vintage shop in Muswell Hill. Stumbling across a time machine, they embark on trips to the past to stock their shop with no idea of the irreparable damage they’re causing to the fabric of the universe.
Ruth and Megan run a small antique shop in Muswell Hill, a suburb of London. They face the same problems as any small business; rent needs to be paid, stock levels are low and the daily upkeep of a business.
The ‘documentary’ opens up by explaining how they found a time machine by the bins out the back. We later find out that the time machine, which is made out of a bumper car, was meant to be destroyed. This was done by leaving it out by the bins on bin day.
When Ruth and Megan discover what the bumper car can do, they use it to travel back in time, pick up a few bits and pieces, return to the present and sell the ‘antiques’. There’s a line about how a cowboy outfit, from the early 1800’s, is nicely “hand-stitched”.
The Local Inventors Club
It turns out, in Muswell Hill, there is a local inventors club. The members have created things like Rocket Boots, a Resizer, a Dream Recorder and an Invisibility Cloak, which is mostly used to listen to people when they are talking about you behind your back. It was one of the members that made the time machine, realised how dangerous is it and left it out for the bins.
One of the members finds that Ruth and Megan have the time machine and have to put a stop to them using it. Their travelling around time could tear the universe apart. In fact, it does, as a hole in space starts to appear, which is going to affect their security deposit on their rent.
Megan ends up inside the tear and the others have to save her.
Subtle Comedy
I found myself laughing at Time Travel is Dangerous a lot. There are some great lines:
“The storeroom is overrun, and we can’t really get in there. The other day I couldn’t get to something, so I just used the time machine to get another one.”
The rest of the jokes are subtle and just make you laugh. The style is very much like The Office or Parks and Recs, with handheld camera work, with the occasional ‘thing in the background’ that makes you giggle.
I also loved how the entire concept of a time machine, rocket books and invisibility cloaks, are in the same universe as an antique store in Muswell Hill. Why not? It doesn’t all have to happen in Stark Towers.
It was great that that time machine was made out of a bumper car. Living in Muswell Hill, I take it they couldn’t find anything better. They probably found it by the side of the river or bought it from a fairground for £50.
One of the charms of the machine is that it looks homemade, possibly with bits from an old kettle. It’s like the Delorian in Back to the Future but on more of a budget.
The Cast
Ruth and Megan are the main focus, and even though this has some big British names, they aren’t in it for long. This was a little cheeky, but I also appreciate there was a budget. There are very well-done special effects in this.
Both Ruth and Megan are great, they have a good sense of comic timing and play things very seriously, which just makes it funnier. The local group of inventors are the same. They are real people, living in London, who just happen to be creative inventors.
Towards the end of the movie, the inventors examine the tear in the space-time continuum. They record the entire event, on VHS video. I guess no one had a digital camera.
Within Time Travel is Dangerous, there is a subplot of a TV show from the 80s. In the UK, there was one called Tomorrow’s World, where they talked about technology and the future.
The show, within the movie, is where the idea of the time machine first came up, and ties in nicely to the story. In the show, there’s a ‘robot’, called Botty, played by Vegas. Some of you might not know Vegas, but he’s a very funny man.
Overall
Time Travel is Dangerous is as good as the trailer lets on. If you like the mockumentary style comedy, this is shot, acted and directed very well.
It’s sweet and funny and you can enjoy the ride that Ruth and Megan go on. There are some laugh-out moments, in other places, I just found myself giggling at the subtle comedy. I’ve seen comedies, made by Hollywood, made for millions of dollars, that don’t hold a candle to this.
I can honestly say that Time Travel is Dangerous is the funniest British mockumentary about inter-dimensional time travel, set in an antique shop in Muswell Hill, I have ever seen.
Time Travel is Dangerous is out on the 28th of March. It’s an original comedy, very well done and funny, plain and simple.
