Dreamworks' Time Machine leaves audience...

Photo courtesy of Dreamworks

Guy Pearce uses the time machine to revisit days before he bacame a B movie actor.

If moviegoers feel as though they have seen everything, it is probably because they have. Twice. The latest victim of the remake is "The Time Machine," a film based on the H.G. Wells' classic science fiction novel.

Not only does Dreamworks use "The Time Machine" to go back to 1960 and steal George Pal's vision, but the film comes from Well's great grandson, director Simon Wells. Unlike the novel and 1960 film, the remake does not seem to differ from other time travel films. With a plot that has been around for more than 100 years, the audience does not need a time machine to predict the outcome of this movie.

Victorian scientist and engineer Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pearce) constructs a machine capable of sending him back and forth through time. Through a predictable turn of events, Hartdegen is hurled 800,000 years into the future. Much like 1968's "Planet of the Apes" (remade in 2001), the future bares a striking resemblance to the past. Humans have evolved into hunting and gathering nomadic people called the Eloi. Unfortunately, a separate species evolved from humans called Morlocks. Like the subterranean freaks in 1971's "The Omega Man," the Morlocks torment the Elio and Hartdegen throughout the story. During the day the Elio roam the countryside enjoying a carefree existence, while at night the Morlocks emerge from their underground layer to snatch the Elio. The Elio take refuge from the Morlocks in tree houses. Hartdegen is forced to confront the Morlocks after Mara (Samantha Mumba), his futuristic love interest, is captured. This version differs little from George Pal's film.

Though the novel and 1960 film both originate in London, this version begins in New York. Before going 800,000 years into the future, Hartdegen lands in 2005 and 2007. Curiously enough these near futures are already greatly changed. Already there are moon colonies and a hologram librarian (Orlando Jones). Although the Morlocks are portrayed as monsters that only come out at night, Mara is captured in broad daylight, which begs the question as to why the Elio even attempt to conceal their whereabouts after dark. Besides these obstructions, the story itself is one of the filmıs stronger elements.

As expected, the "Time Machine" is filled with digital special effects that can make any drab plot entertaining. Like the film, the time machine itself lacks any real originality (i.e. the Delorian in "Back to the Future" or the phone booth in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"). However, watching Hartdegen travel through time while the background evolves/devolves is entertaining.

The hideous Morlocks are also intriguing to watch. During the scene in which Mara is captured, the agility and strength the Morlocks display makes you forget that these beasts do not actually exist, thanks to innovative costumes and special effects. One area in which the film falls short is the most important.

"The Time Machine" fails to create any connection between the audience and characters. The characters seem as though they were preconceived through some film formula. Many of the characters' brief appearances keep them from projecting any real depth. The dialogue between the Hartdegen and the Elio is filled with the same boring questions every time traveler asks: "What if?" and "How did things get to be like this?"

"The Time Machine" is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence. Although this film will probably not inspire you to change your major to physics, it may leave you wishing you could go back in time before you spent $7.50. In all I give this movie one finger up. Guess which finger?