Movie review - Clockstoppers

Reviewed by Justin Colburn and Keayn Dunya

Zak Gibbs' (Jesse Bradford, Hackers) greatest challenge has been finding a way to get his dad to allow him to buy a car. But when he discovers an odd wristwatch amidst his father's various inventions and slips it on, something very strange happens. The world around him slows to a crawl; everything and everybody becomes mired in time. Zak quickly learns how to manipulate the device, and he and his quick-witted, beautiful new friend, Francesca, (Paula Garcés, Cash Crop) have some real fun. What they soon realize, though, is they are not alone in hypertime.

Justin

The concept of "freezing time" or, in the case, moving quickly through it is not a new concept in the realm of film. Looking back you might remember an 80's television show called "Out of This World" in which the main character could freeze time by touching her two index fingers together and return things to normal by touching her palms together. I also vaguely remember seeing an episode of Duck Tales with a similar story. This film takes those concepts, only touched on by Scrooge McDuck and his nephews and expands on them.

I was a little apprehensive when we entered the theatre to see this movie, Nickelodeon produces entertainment for children, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised; outside of a few kids' movie clichés the movie was pretty good. If you take out all of the scenes involving the high school bullies and the DJ contest the movie would be a lot less "cheesy," but at the same time I shouldn't be expected to like these scenes because they were designed to appeal to kids in their early teens. Jonathan Frakes did a great job of directing, the movie flowed very well and man of the things brought up near the end were established earlier in the film (Zak's skill at riding bikes, etc.) The biggest surprise to me was that I didn't leave the movie wanting to kill French Stewart, who I usually find unbearably annoying.

Keayn:

There are the few kids' movies that are great for all ages. I would rank this one as one of them. It deals with issues and ideas that every kid has and gives them a little insight.

The physics of 'time travel' is always a touchy subject. As a science geek myself I get a little twitchy when the laws of the universe are monkeyed around with. Clockstoppers was good at making the mechanics behind it a non-issue. The special effects of hypertime (when the wearer was so sped up that the rest of the world seemed to move by at a crawl) were done well. There were even problems with hypertime showing that no technology is perfect.

Everything is Clockstoppers was set up with a cause and event, keeping the movie consistent and believable. Most of the cast were real and had some depth, with the exception of Meeker (Garikayi Mutambirwa) who seemed a little tacked on and the high school bullies. If they had made it the cutting room floor I believe the movie would've been a lot better. Everything Zak did had motive and was set up before hand. Such as his bike tricks and his penchant to packrat items. Usually with kids' movies a lot of things either aren't explained or are pulled out as needed. I'm glad Clockstoppers didn't go that route. Francesa also had quite a bit of depth and turned out to be more of a co-star instead of a sidekick. She showed that being a consul's daughter didn't mean that life was any different than an average kids. Even Zak's dad showed that wanting the best for your kids doesn't mean that you do everything the best way or that they can always see what you mean.

All in all Clockstoppers was an enjoyable film. If I had kids it would be the one I would take them to and get them to discuss afterwards. As an adult it was a light film that I could enjoy either with friends or on a date and move on to a few pints afterwards.

(3.75 out of 5 watches)