AGW Entertainment reporter Lynn b. saw a new SCI-FI adventure film. Here are her thoughts on....

CLOCKSTOPPERS

Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon

Wouldn't we all like to stop time? We'd never be late anywhere, could see some stuff we probably should never see, could even steal a kiss or…..

Well, you get it. In this sci fi actioner, we learn that, in "hypertime", everything looks frozen but that's only because a watch device speeds up the molecules of whoever wears it, thus making him invisible. The wearer is moving so fast that everything else "freezes". Whoa, way too much science!

Zak Gibbs (Jesse Bradford) is a high school senior who still has to ride his bike until he can afford his first car. He's selling everything he can find on Ebay to raise the money. Zak's on the outs with his busy, scientist dad (Robin Thomas) and finds a weird-looking watch in the basement. He puts it on and whoosh! Time stands still. Zak tries this out on his crush, beautiful exchange student Francesca (Paula Garces). First, it's fun and pranks for the couple until they see they aren't alone in hypertime. Some guys want the watch back. There's Henry Gates (Michael Biehn) the head of Quantum Tech, builders of the device and Dr. Earl Dopler (French Stewart) who did the actual design work.

There's a hitch. People in hypertime keep aging rapidly. When Gates grabs Zak's dad to help work out the kinks in the invention, it becomes a rescue mission for Zak, Francesca and Dopler.

A powerful premise like freezing time could go anywhere. A really raunchy movie would be possible or a more adult, sci-fi, Bladerunner style epic could be the result. Clockstoppers is put out by Nickelodeon (with Paramount) which gave us the charming Jimmy Neutron. So, we get a PG-rated family film that is cute, pleasing but not very deep. Kids play mild pranks with their newfound power and we feel that the bad guys would probably do something awful if they perfect the power but we don't really see the threat in the film. I was a little confused by the ending in which government types, who look pretty militant, take over the project from the baddies. And this is supposed to be a good thing? Michael Biehn (so great in Terminator and as a villain in The Abyss) is painted larger than life and gets to chew the scenery a bit too much. Paula and Jesse do fine as the lead couple and French Stewart is dorky/okay as a mad-ish scientist.

We can relate to Zak's world; the awkward period right before you can get your first car is torture. You feel like an adult but you're still riding your blasted bike! When Zak graduates to a hot Mustang and then Francesca's bro's cool BMW, we're happy for him. The film's soundtrack is pretty hot with tunes by Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind, Blink 182, Sugar Ray, etc.

Clockstoppers could play just as well as a T.V. movie but there are some very fun effects, some comic moments that work, a nice romance so, hey, Clockstoppers is worth a visit to the multi-plex. Take your younger siblings to this one too.

I rate this one 3 out of 5 stars.

Official website www.clockstoppers.com

Rated PG

Directed by Jonathan Frakes (yes that Star Trek guy)
Screenplay by Rob Hedden, J. David Stem & David N. Weiss
Starring:
Jesse Bradford as Zak
Paula Garces as Francesca
French Stewart as Dopler
Michael Biehn as Gates