Movie Review – Timeline
Principal Cast : Paul Walker, Frances O’Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, David Thewlis, Anna Friel, Neal McDonough, Matt Craven, Ethan Embry, Michael Sheen, Lambert Wilson, Marton Csokas, Rossif Sutherland.
Synopsis: A group of archaeologists get embroiled in an adventure where they must travel back in time to 14th Century France, to save their professor before the French battle the English at Castlegard. If they fail, they won’t be able to return.
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Despite a top-shelf cast, a solid behind-the-camera roster, and the pedigree of Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton’s novel as its template, Richard Donner’s Timeline is an absolute dumpster fire of a film—and not in a good way. Mixing time travel with historical anachronisms and a bizarre corporate thriller subtext, Timeline throws then-hot Paul Walker back into late 14th-century France during the Hundred Years’ War to rescue his time-lost father. Filled with medieval action and plagued by terrible scripting, this chaotic mess clumsily sets up its obnoxiously convoluted premise before devolving into a roaring, shouting, largely bloodless actioner that never sparks to life.
The story (such as it is) follows a team of archaeology students led by Chris Johnston (Paul Walker – The Fast & The Furious), Kate Erickson (Frances O’Connor – A.I. Artificial Intelligence), and André Marek (Gerard Butler – Olympus Has Fallen), who are sent back to 14th-century France via a quantum time machine to rescue their professor, Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly – Her Majesty Mrs Brown). Trapped in the past amid the Hundred Years’ War, they must navigate treacherous medieval politics, battle-hardened knights, and a looming siege while racing against time to return home. As Marek embraces the past and Chris fights to survive, the group faces off against the ruthless Lord Oliver (Michael Sheen – The Queen) and his brutal lieutenant, Sir De Kere (Marton Csokas – The Lord of the Rings), while aligning with French warrior Lord Arnaud (Lambert Wilson – The Matrix Reloaded) and his sister, Lady Claire (Anna Friel).
From its blisteringly disorienting preamble—an archaeological dig at the fortified village of Castlegard—to its nonsensical time-travel mechanics that inexplicably hurl our cast into the past, Timeline stumbles through an incoherent blend of historical epic and tone-deaf action film. The climactic battle sequence, featuring trebuchets and the infamous “Greek fire” (which I had to Google because the film never bothers to explain it), wants to be Braveheart but instead lands as an uninspired muddle of ideas. With dire scripting and wooden line delivery (poor Paul Walker, as American as he ever was, feels particularly out of place), the film clumsily juggles themes and tropes without executing any of them well.
Screenwriters Jeff Maguire (In the Line of Fire) and George Nolfi (Ocean’s 12) attempt to distill Crichton’s novel into a coherent screenplay but fail spectacularly—either due to a lack of ability (which I doubt) or a tsunami of studio interference and ill-conceived creative decisions (which is more likely). As a result, Donner is left to cobble together a ramshackle medieval adventure with a severely dumbed-down time-travel premise.
Donner, typically a competent action director, seems out of his depth here, crafting a film that feels like a low-budget Jerry Bruckheimer production but lacking the slick, overproduced sheen that defined the uber-producer’s early 2000s output. Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography is bright and functional, ensuring no crucial moment is missed, but it leaves the film visually flat and devoid of atmosphere. While the distinct colour palettes for the English and French armies add some clarity to the action sequences, the overall aesthetic is disappointingly bland. The climactic siege may look expensive, but between the uninspired battle choreography and lack of genuine stakes, it fails to generate excitement.
The time-travel element—the supposed driving force of the plot—is lazily handled, feeling like an afterthought rather than the narrative backbone. Various contrivances and well-worn sci-fi tropes do the heavy lifting for the audience, while characters awkwardly explain key plot points in forced expository dialogue. Donner’s inability to foreshadow upcoming twists is glaringly obvious, making for a frustratingly predictable experience. The film also struggles to determine just who the main character is: it’s a toss-up between Paul Walker’s son-after-his-father or Gerard Butler’s archeologically romantic hunk, although neither are given the latitude to form solid leading turns when the story is split between so many, and all so unevenly.
Despite all of this, Timeline does boast an impressive cast trying their absolute hardest to elevate the material. Walker, O’Connor, and Butler’s characters are paper-thin, with Butler’s Marek being the only one who exhibits anything resembling an engaging arc. Walker and O’Connor are the supposedly romantic pairing, but for all the reactions and exhortations O’Connor gives in the film, most of them are directed at Butler… leaving Walker’s character effectively cuckolded by poor writing. Billy Connolly, ever the professional, invests more gravitas into his role than the film deserves. The corporate subplot—featuring Neal McDonough, Matt Craven, and David Thewlis as shadowy executives—could have been an intriguing addition but is ultimately reduced to meaningless filler, existing solely to justify the time-travel gimmick.
Michael Sheen, Marton Csokas, and Lambert Wilson, meanwhile, have an absolute blast chewing scenery. Sheen’s gleefully villainous Lord Oliver is one of the film’s few highlights, and Csokas gives his best evil henchman performance as Sir De Kere. Ethan Embry’s annoying physicist and Rossif Sutherland’s tragically short-lived archaeologist add little to the proceedings. Anna Friel plays a French noblewoman with an inexplicably compelling connection to Butler’s Marek, but their relationship is never fully developed, existing only to check off a romantic subplot box.
The biggest problem with Timeline is that it simply isn’t fun. At all. The plot is nonsensical—the method of sending the characters back in time is glossed over in a two-minute exposition dump by Thewlis’ character, and the actual rescue mission falls flat almost immediately. The film is littered with tropes—narrow escapes, last-minute rescues, and an overreliance on “characters explaining things to the audience”—which become grating long before the credits roll.
Legendary editor Richard Marks (Serpico, St Elmo’s Fire, As Good As It Gets) does his best with what he’s given, but the editing often feels haphazard—perhaps more a reflection of Donner’s shooting style than Marks’ skill. Brian Tyler’s score, stepping in after the late Jerry Goldsmith passed away before completing the film’s soundtrack, is a chaotic orchestral mess that fails to leave any lasting impact.
If you have time to kill, Timeline might serve as passable background noise between migraines. It certainly gave me one. Terrible writing, uninspired action, and a lazily executed premise make this film a struggle to sit through. If there’s one redeeming factor, it’s watching Michael Sheen gleefully hamming it up in the third act. Beyond that? There’s absolutely nothing to recommend.
Who wrote this?
