Brilliant Sci-Fi Premise Ruined By Silly Love Story

Rating: 6/10 (17 September 2012)

The first twenty minutes of this movie are amazing -- it looks like the beginning of a kick-ass, blue-collar remake of LOGAN'S RUN. Justin Timberlake IS Will Solace, a bad-ass rebel trying to take on a whole world full of "beautiful people." Ghetto hustler Will is used to living minute-to-minute on the street. And he is drawn to the rich at first. But their opulence hides a terrible secret! So far, so good, and I have to say that, contrary to most reviews you see here, Justin has NO trouble playing a street hustler who's seen it all and has the natural reflexes of a killer. He's brilliant at keeping his cool in the fight scenes and chase scenes, even going "unbelievable" in a totally bored tone when a time cop shoots right at him! No, what really sinks the movie (after a killer half hour) is when Will meets up with the little robot-chick who's supposed to be "the rich man's daughter."
Suddenly the kick-ass sci-fi film noir becomes a lame, MTV-flavored remake of BONNIE & CLYDE. Two crazy kids on the run -- can they take on The System?
Hell no!!!!
Justin and Amanda what's her name have no chemistry, no funk, no soul as a couple. Watch Michael York and Jennifer Agutter in the original LOGAN's RUN, or watch Natalie Portman and Hugo what's his face in V FOR VENDETTA, and you can see how real chemistry between the leads can overcome even the silliest sci-fi premise.
Here it's the opposite. The lifeless love scenes totally derail the chases and ruin the film's climax. Worse than that, as a tough guy Justin has much more "chemistry" with the Time Cops, the Minute Men, and all the other baddies, including Vincent Kartheiser as the Barbie Doll's father! (Is Vincent phoning this part in or what?) So anyway, this movie is worth watching once -- but after the first half hour it's all down hill.