Sound of Thunder, A (2005)

Sadly there's nothing as cool as hand-eating killer moths in this...

Genre: Sci-Fi Action Adventure Fantasy Drama (USA, Germany, Czech Republic)

Starring: Edward Burns (Ash Wednesday; Sidewalks of New York), Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast; Supect Zero)

Directed By: Peter Hyams (Timecop; End Of Days)

Overview: Time travel safari tours takes groups to the past to hunt a dying T-Rex. One trip however causes the future to change. Our Hero must find that thing and prevent it from happening in the first place.

Acting: Ben Kingsley, they advertised. "Can't be that bad", I thought. Guess who the best actor in all this was? Ben Kingsley. Right. The actors I suppose do the best with what they're given, but the secondary characters are stupid caricatures. I hate that. Ben Kingsley brings it out of the mire. Obviously, he took a big cheque for this one. Come on Ghandi, think harder about your roles.
Rating: 6

Cinematography: The standard look of the cinematographic genius shots were all replaced by CGI. Fine. I'm ok with that. The special effects were ok too, granted. Certainly the budget went to this, because it sure as hell didn't go to script or plot or whatever else. Look all I gotta say: Mandrilizard.
Rating: 7

Script: I've heard of this story. You know! "The Simpsons"'s episode where Homer finds that magic toaster that takes him to the past? That's right! Well, the writers of that episode should have written this too. It really seems obvious that no talent went into the screenplay. Just to warn you in future, Thomas Dean Donnelly also wrote Sahara, and really doesn't seem to have a career besides that. Maybe he's someone who's in witness protection and they gave this loser his dream job, who knows... Either way, his next writing project includes such promising titles as Cowboys and Aliens. Shudder for 2006.
Rating: 4

Plot: I really must admit how formulaic this was. One of the first action scenes (once everything gets started with the 'Time Waves' - yeah, you heard me) has them traveling from the building to two blocks away, where they encounter danger. The second time they have to travel, it's halfway through the city. I knew that they would be driving and that they would get there without incident before it happened on-screen. Little things like that lingered throughout this film, in "deja-vu" feeling inducing moment after moment. It's too bad, the world was looking pretty interesting. It seems that they left the beginning of the original Ray Bradbury tale untouched, then to stretch it out for time, they had a bunch of Brukheimers come in and dictate the rest of the boredom. Lowest Common Denominator Factor wins again, and that's why you get a "Suck".
Rating: 4

Mood: The future started off so good, then I noticed little weird things, like there were only 5 different types of cars, fashion was the same as it is today... TIME WAVES. I swear the Bradbury story was probably terrific. This seems like it was molested by the unimaginative.
Rating: 6

Look, seriously, any science expedition that looks like a ride at Disneyland.. not professional enough...

Overall Rating: 54% (Guess What Else Sounds Like Thunder? Right.)

Aftertaste: The second free movie sneak preview in a week. I must say the price was right, but my guest thought that the busfare might have been pushing it. I thought sneak previews were there so you could tell people how GOOD a movie was? Free previews tend to remind me how bad a film is going to be. But I still cling hard to the fact that I saw Shaun of The Dead and Sin City as a free preview too. Save your money, save your time.