Mega Time Squad



 

Director - Tim Van Dammen (Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song)
Starring - Anton Tennet (Her Majesty, Penny Black) , Johnny Brugh (Power Rangers: DinoThunder, The Almighty Johnsons), and Hetty Gaskell-Hahn (Shortland Street)
Release Date - 2018
Genre - Sci-Fi/Comedy/Crime
Tagline - "Out of time without a clue"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     I love horror and exploitation but watching these day in and day out does get a little old.  It doesn't turn me off to them but it does start to wear thin over time.  I try to break these up by checking out non-genre films.  Sometime back I received a press release for the sci-fi comedy Mega Time Squad.  The film went through several posters and all of them caught my eye.  I loved how playful and funny the posters were.  When the movie was available for review I had to jump on it.  I requested a copy and they were kind enough to send one my way.  I'm glad they did because I really enjoyed it. 

     The film follows petty thief John (Tennet) who works for small time crime boss Shelton (Brugh) who forces him to rob a Chinese antique store that was holding Triad money.  John does the job and steals an old bracelet in the process but it warned that it has a special ability.  He disregards the warning and takes the money to Shelton where he learns that Shelton had set him up.  Facing death, John triggers the watch and jumps back in time several minutes and creates another John in the process.  He decides to use the bracelet to get the money back from Shelton and creates several more Johns which team up to form the Mega Time Squad.  Sadly, not all Johns are equal and one plans to secretly snuff out the others and make out with the cash.  Now the Johns have to worry about each other and Shelton and his goons.

     I was expecting this one to be a funny with a large sci-fi spin but that was not the case.  We get a heavy crime story with some sci-fi elements and the laughs just wasn't there.  It was still an entertaining film but the laughs fell flat.  The acting in this one is solid.  The characters are big and bold for the most part but some of the minor characters were poorly written.  The cast tries but these characters are just there to fill up space on the screen.  We get stellar performances from Anton Tennet and Johnny Brugh.  They both work very well together and make their characters fun.  The story for this one wants to be a comedy but the laughs just don't work.  The writing tries but the delivery and timing is way off.  Most of the humor falls under the table and never finds it's mark.  The story has great pacing and is fun for the most part but it does stumble over it's own footing near the end.  It starts to feel rushed.  Finally, we get some solid visual effects that are used sparingly.  We get a few death scenes with some blood but we never get a good look at the kill so you miss out on the practical effect.  Which is a bummer considering the amount of blood in the scene.  Overall, Mega Time Squad want to be a funny sci-fi actioner but finds itself as a solid sci-fi crime film.  It entertains just don't expect the laughs to follow.