Writer: Richie Mehta (Screenplay)
Starring: Gillian Anderson, Haley Joel Osment, Victor Garber, Rufus Sewell, John Paul Ruttan, Susanna Fournier
Plot: After the disappearance of a young scientist on a business trip, his son and wife struggle to cope, only to make a bizarre discovery years later – one that may bring him home.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Basic Time Travel Theory Film
Story: Continuum starts by showing our loving family Marika (Anderson), Gabe (Sewell) and son Erol going their separate ways for work just for a couple of days. When Gabe goes missing while on the trip, Marika’s father Sal (Garber) is joined by Marika to investigate what happened to him and only find a mix of his studies along with all his personal belongings.
Erol (Osment) has grown up to reach college age now that never learnt what actually happened to his father. Sal still working on what could have happened has been looking into the potential of time travel and leaves the ideas to Erol to solve the mystery. After Marika continues to struggle with the loss of her husband she eventually commits suicide, this motivates Erol to team up with his grandfather to complete the research and save his family.
We watch how Erol has to make the decision on whether to start his own family or save his parents but Erol just can’t catch a break because tragedy strikes again pulling Erol back to work finding his own way to fix everything in his life.
Continuum is a time travel film that only really looks at the theory and practice of time travel. It looks at the idea of certain paths were predetermined and you can’t just change them. The drawback of this style of storytelling is that very little actually happens during the film, we get technology talk that goes straight over the head. When we finally get to the actual time travel it is also just about trying to change one moment with very little happening. I feel this is a very disappointing film that does have a good concept because most of the ideas would make a time travel film interesting, it is just it could well just be a documentary for the most part about one man trying to build the machine until the time travel happens. (3/10)
Actor Review
Gillian Anderson: Marika grieving mother who has lost her husband and never really recovers, she eventually commits suicide because of the loss. Gillian is only a supporting character and doesn’t get a chance to shine through the film. (4/10)
Haley Joel Osment: Erol is a young man who wants to finish his father’s work so he can travel back in time to correct the tragedies that have hit his life. Haley is trying to rebuild his career and this does show his ability to try another genre but he doesn’t reach the levels you would expect from him. (5/10)
Victor Garber: Sal is Marika’s father who has been trying to find out what happened to Gabe and when he reaches as far as he can he brings in Erol to complete the work. Victor is the strongest performance and that is only a solid one at best. (6/10)
Rufus Sewell: Gabe is Erol’s father who has gone back in time and been murdered leading to the idea that no one really knows what happened to him. Rufus is only in part of the film and does what he can with what he has. (4/10)
Susanna Fournier: Grace is the long term childhood sweetheart of Erol who tries to keep Erol focusing on the real time rather than wasting his own time changing everything that has happened. Susanna struggles to make an impact the way her character needs too. (4/10)
Support Cast: Continuum doesn’t have any more characters to add to the story or even get involved.
Director Review: Richie Mehta – Richie has a good idea but doesn’t pull it off to the level time travel requires. (4/10)
Mystery: Continuum does offer a mystery but seem to tell you what the answer is early on and we are only left with the idea of trying to figure out how they can change the outcome. (5/10)
Sci-Fi: Continuum does give us the time travel idea really well. (8/10)
Settings: Continuum does keep the settings realistic for each time period. (7/10)
Suggestion: Continuum is a time travel film that is an interesting idea but slightly dull, it could be worth a watch but don’t expect anything special. (Try it)
Best Part: The Basic Idea.
Worst Part: The execution of the idea.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
Tagline: What would you do to change the past?
Overall: Continuum really is a disappointing film that had a lot of potential.
Rating