Final thoughts on: In Time

For my thoughts on viewing the trailer of In Time see here

 This film was fantastic. Not fantastic from a sense of special effects, or action, or anything else related with shallow (but good! Don't get me wrong) action films such Die Hard (what this film certainly isn't). This film is fantastic because of the sheer depth of the world created in it. What I really wanted from the film was for it to explore the potential with having time as currency, and it barely left a stone unturned.

Specific examples of this depth are hard to put down, as there are so many there's bound to be something everyone appreciates the inclusion of. To list a few of mine though you have the fashion trends within the film. Women wearing dresses also sport long gloves or what can only be described as arm warmers, intended to hide how many hours they have on their clock from prying eyes.  Another one would be 'Timeshare'. Within the world of In Time a 'Timeshare' is their equivalent to a bank, you can borrow time, but you have to pay it back with interest of course. The extent they've gone to with the film really is endless.

Justin Timberlake has only recently turned his attention to acting, and as such I believe this is the first action film he has starred in (correct me if I'm wrong!). His acting is nothing short of brilliant, he has to portray a myriad of emotions through the film (grievance, guilt, steely action hero man etc) and he holds up pretty well through them all.

Amanda Seyfried is the supporting lead within the film, and the chemistry between her and Timberlake on screen is enough to support the film alone, nothing between the two of them feels forced and both of their acts feel completely natural, they soon warm to each others characters but it's nothing too obvious and it avoids cliches of other action films with the characters falling in love etc etc.

Even the support characters within the film have a tough job to fill. Every actor in the film is meant to look 25 years old, but they have to represent many different ages, meaning they have to portray a variety of ages despite their physical looks. Everyone handles this fine and no-one feels out of place or awkward.

The only slightly grinding scene in the film is the car crash scene. With all the money going in to the film it seems they forgot to allocate enough funding for this part. A car crashes down a ravine and comes to settle at the bottom. The effects as it falls feel really shoddy and cheap, when I saw it I swore it was a toy it was that bad. If they didn't have the funds it would be understandable but it was obvious they could have tried a little harder with it, as it's disappointing this is the only part of the film that feels unrealistic!

The plot isn't up to much either if I'm quite honest. The execution of the plot within the film is great, it's just been done far too many times before for it to feel original, people fighting the system yada yada.

However the sheer surroundings and depth of the world mean that never really becomes a grinding point. Without a doubt I would say that this is one of the best films of the year so far (despite its somewhat stereotypical plot), and one that at some point you should try to watch.

My favourite part of the film - an odd one here, but the ease of which people talk about time. Everyone in the film feels as though they've been using time for years, it sounds as natural as saying pounds or dollars. Listen out for it, you'll see what I mean!

Overall : 9/10

-James