SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This is an interesting and thought-provoking Spanish film which has a grotesque, almost experimental touch and an engaging plot about time-traveling, a theme which had been explored by many other directors and screenwriters. We are watching the protagonist, Hector, in three different chronic versions of himself trying desperately to save the ruining of his life as he knows it till then. The story is alluring and keeps you on the edge of your seat, eager to figure out what exactly and why is happening. Perhaps some viewers will think at some point that the plot is over-complicated but, all the pieces fall into place in the end. The acting and directing are decent but the overall production feels a bit prosaic and cheap, perhaps ''Timecrimes'' was a low-budget movie, that would explain a lot. If you like stories with distorted timeline and attention-demanding plot, you should check this movie out.

Films featuring time travel often carry with them the label of heavy science fiction, but Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes" qualifies as something else. The typical themes and aesthetics of time travel stories are nowhere to be found in "Timecrimes," which instead focuses on a middle-aged man who essentially stumbles into a time machine and ends up going about an hour back in time, where he must "cover his tracks" and make deliberate choices to ensure his survival.The story plays out as a mind-bending mystery with crime thriller undertones, something reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's style only with the budget of his earliest work (and way more of a sense of humor). Hector (Karra Elejalde) begins the film as a bumbling nobody without much agency or fiber of any kind despite a perfectly lovely wife (Candela Fernandez) and home. The way his transformation unfolds is astounding and the big reason why "Timecrimes" surpasses its presumed station of low-budget sci fi.The film's conceit is fairly easy to identify before it is made overtly clear, but Vigalondo expertly keeps surprises in waiting, nullifying any issues of predictability. The film we thought we were watching turns into something different, but not in a jarring, disappointing way — in a way that's impressive and thought-provoking, as well as entertaining. A good comparison point for fans of time travel films is the simple, rudimentary production of Shane Carruth's 2004 film "Primer" (minus the esoterica) with the sense of stakes and excitement of "Back to the Future." It evokes the qualities of thinker films in its philosophy and adventure-oriented movies in its linear storytelling that doesn't stray from Hector.Vigalondo, who plays a supporting role as the time machine inventor who seems a bit puny and spineless, ultimately wants to use time travel to unearth the motivations of his main character. How might this scenario drive a person to act in a certain way. When faced with a paradox that threatens our life as we know it and when presented with the opportunity to easily alter our existence, what might we do? Vigalondo takes a stab at answering that question in a remarkably interesting and entertaining film.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

This clever sci-fi thriller involves a man who is attacked in the woods and goes back in time. The rest of the movie is a series of plot twists.You can look at this movie in two ways. It's a sci-fi flick that plays with time conundrums, or it's an existentialist drama about the way we are trapped in our lives.As a sci-fi film, Timecrimes holds together pretty well. There's a very specific time line and everything fits together nicely. Unfortunately, the movie pretty much relies entirely on the flaws of its protagonist Hector. Hector seems like an everyman, but ultimately he's an immoral idiot. He is fantastically stubborn and makes consistently terrible decisions, often not even trying the most obvious option. Timecrimes follows the popular time-travel trope of inevitability, yet I didn't feel anything in the story was really inevitable; it was just Hector being stupid.The movie works better as existentialist drama, highlighting the ways we play out roles and conspire in our own destruction. This adds some depth to the movie. But without a sense of what kind of person Hector must be to act as he does, I was left feeling dissatisfied.Also, that last couple of minutes is just weird and artificial.

Truly a MUST-SEE for those who love time-travel thrillers. This movie is full of surprises and does not disappoint. Although slow to start, it quickly picks up the pace and before long, you will be unable to look away. The first time I watched it I had to endure subtitles, later I saw a screening that had been dubbed. Either way you slice it, it is a fantastic, thought provoking thriller. You may find yourself in deep- thought after your viewing, but chances are it will become a new favorite!