28/42
Stella, haunted by the disappearance of her father 30 years ago, returns to her hometown to care for her ailing mother. One night, her father contacts her using an old radio. Stella must travel back in time to bring him back by activating the Taklee Genesis. This film offers many enjoyable moments if you don’t take it too seriously. It’s a science fiction mystery based on a time travel story that combines elements of drama, comedy, horror, and fantasy. At times, it felt like the director had a catalog of movie scenes from which he would select a random element and throw it into the film. As a result, viewers get to see crazy aliens, dinosaurs, spaceships, zombies, seagulls, and much more that you wouldn’t expect. This makes it feel like a more generic version of Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One. As with most time travel movies, plot holes are hard to avoid. There are many things in this film that are often reduced to dialogue with phrases like It’s okay, Don’t worry, or It’ll be okay. While the actors seemed to be trying their best, the acting is still another weakness of this film. At first, the Brit spoke as if he were recording an English listening comprehension lesson for an elementary school. The mother didn’t even shed a tear when Whelan disappeared. The funniest character of all was Mordin, the silent survivor who saves the day when everyone else is falling into despair. Overall, our rating for Taklee Genesis is a solid seven out of ten. We watched the original version with English subtitles in the cinema.