{"id":2198,"date":"2024-08-09T13:24:34","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T13:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2198"},"modified":"2024-10-13T19:30:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T23:30:09","slug":"timecop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/09\/timecop\/","title":{"rendered":"Timecop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Timecop <\/strong>(1994)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Sci-Fi-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 99 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, sexuality, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Peter Hyams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Mark Verheiden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Mark Isham and Robert Lamm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Peter Hyams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: September 16, 1994 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ron Silver, Mia Sara, Bruce McGill, Gloria Reuben, Scott Bellis, Jason Schombing, Scot Lawrence, Kenneth Welsh, Brent Woolsey, Brad Loree, Shane Kelly, Richard Faraci, Steve Lambert, Kevin McNulty.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $44.8M (US)\/$101.6M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0The best way to enjoy the JCVD sci-fi actioner Timecop <\/strong>is to NOT question its logic. You are bound to find plot holes in any movie dealing with time travel. This one is riddled with them. If you try to make sense of it, it\u2019s likely to drive you insane. It\u2019s best just to sit back, let the story unfold and take it on its own terms. It\u2019s kind of fun if you do.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In present-day 1994, somebody has finally unlocked the secrets to time travel. This, of course, comes with its own set of problems like those who would use it for illicit purposes. For example, somebody could travel back to the past and alter it in a way that changes the present. This could have dire consequences. Because of this, the US government establishes the Time Enforcement Commission (TEC for short), a special agency that polices time travel. Here\u2019s one of those questions I told you not to ask. Why doesn\u2019t the CIA intervene and take it away from the police department? Time travel seems like the kind of thing they\u2019d want to keep a lid on.<\/p>\n

\u00a0ANYWAY, Washington DC police officer Max Walker (Van Damme) is offered a position as a Timecop, a job he\u2019s reluctant to accept. He wants to run it by his wife Melissa (Sara, Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off) first. She has news of her own (she\u2019s pregnant), but before she can tell him later that night in bed, work calls and asks Max to work an extra shift. He\u2019s attacked by a gang of thugs as he leaves his house. He then watches helplessly as the house explodes with Melissa inside it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ten years later, Max is a dedicated agent of the TEC. He\u2019s sent to 1929 where his ex-partner is cashing in on the stock market crash. He\u2019s using information from 2004 to benefit financially. When Max goes to arrest him, the ex-partner admits that he\u2019s trying to raise funds for the Presidential campaign of Senator McCord (Silver, Blue Steel), the overseer of TEC operations. Naturally, he refuses to testify against McCord and is summarily executed for his time crimes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0At this point, I could continue to describe the plot of Timecop <\/strong>or I could just say that Max\u2019s subsequent investigation of McCord leads to all sorts of complications. I\u2019ll go with the latter because it\u2019s simply too convoluted to explain here. I\u2019ll just tell you that Max going back to \u201994 gives him a second chance to save his wife and unborn child from the thugs who were sent back through time by McCord to kill him. Hey, what about the law against tampering with the past? Yes, it\u2019s an ethical dilemma.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Peter Hyams (Outland), Timecop<\/strong> is simultaneously silly and smart. Maybe I should qualify the last part. It\u2019s smarter than most JCVD actioners. It actually has a plot that involves more than the Muscles from Brussels beating up bad guys in pursuit of justice or revenge. Oh, he does plenty of it in Timecop<\/strong>, but it\u2019s not the movie\u2019s sole purpose. That being said, he gives the best performance he possibly can as Max. It looks like he might be having fun with the goofy material, but it\u2019s hard to get a read on this guy. JCVD, as you know, doesn\u2019t have a whole lot of emotional range. Silver fares better as the villain of the piece. He\u2019s an ideal choice to play a slimy, conceited politician with malevolent intentions. Sara is pretty good as Melissa.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The convoluted narrative is something I expected. A lot of the time, movies involving time travel are all over the map. Timecop<\/strong> is no exception. In addition to all else, the writer throws in a subplot about Max getting a new partner (Reuben, Nick of Time) who\u2019s actually an Internal Affairs officer investigating him for his supposed role in his ex-partner\u2019s illegal doings. Her story doesn\u2019t really go anywhere. Perhaps I should say it doesn\u2019t go where you think it will. Or maybe it does? I don\u2019t know. I do know that Timecop<\/strong> is easy enough to follow while you\u2019re watching it, but one would be hard-pressed to explain the plot to a friend afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The rules of time travel are complex to say the least. For instance, it\u2019s stated that one can travel to the past, but not to the future because the future hasn\u2019t happened yet. Okay, fine. Explain this then. How is it somebody can travel to the past and return to the present which is the future in the past they wish to leave? Are you with me so far? Since the future hasn\u2019t happened yet, does that mean the present the traveler came from is erased? Like I said, a guy could go crazy trying to put it all together. I\u2019ll refrain from discussing the many other plot holes in Timecop<\/strong>. Why spoil your enjoyment of an otherwise entertaining sci-fi-actioner? While I could have done without yet another climax taking place on a rainy night, I had fun with this movie and its inherent silliness. Try not to overthink it and you will too.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Timecop (1994)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Sci-Fi-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 99 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, sexuality, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Peter Hyams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Mark Verheiden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Mark Isham and Robert Lamm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Peter Hyams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: September 16, 1994 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ron Silver, Mia Sara, Bruce McGill, Gloria Reuben, Scott Bellis, Jason Schombing, Scot Lawrence, Kenneth Welsh, Brent Woolsey, Brad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kick-ass-actioners","category-sci-fi-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Timecop-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2198"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3101,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2198\/revisions\/3101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}