Review - In Time

At first glance in Time appears with slight comparisons of Michael Bay's The Island but under the surface is a much different film.

With a unique take on life In Time places us in the future, 2161 to be specific, where the world has changed vastly, with nobody ageing beyond 25 physically and time now the universal currency. With the price of living costing more and more by the day, life is difficult for the working class and amongst those is Will Salas (Timberlake), a factory worker who lives with his mother (Olivia Wilde) attempting to cope day-by-day to survive. 


With their life clocks at a maximum of a day at a time, life is a struggle with the threat of death looming constantly. When his mother runs out of time and dies in his arms, Will decides that action must be taken against those who govern the time supplied to the masses. After meeting a stranger in a bar who gifts him with with over a century of time Will finds himself a wanted man and heads towards a different district where he aims to take down those responsible for the time handling. 


After meeting the 90-year old millionaire Phillipe Weis and his daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) Will is caught by timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) and questioned as to how he acquired so much time. Escaping custody and taking Sylvia with him, Will embarks on a journey to overcome the might of the timekeepers and restore the world to normal living.  


In Time is a film shrouded in mediocrity from beginning to end. Despite a pretty solid performance from Timberlake the events that are unfold to not help him. Every chase scene we witness offers little threat to our main characters and at points the film does not know whether it wants to be either an action thriller or simply a film with a message about the state of the global economy.

The film will make the viewer feel slightly redundant following its trailer which suggests a reasonable amount of high octane action chase sequences.  In truth these are short-lived and in most cases dreadfully dull and predictable. Despite a story that is both unique and thought-provoking, the film is let down by a lack of ambition in its set pieces and Timberlake as an actor was built for better projects. Bitterly disappointing as a whole. 

Film rating: 2 out of 5 F's