38/13
Stella, haunted by the disappearance of her father 30 years ago, returns to her hometown to care for her ailing mother. One night, her father contacts her via an old radio. Stella must travel back in time to bring him back by activating the Taklee Genesis. This film offers many enjoyable moments, if not taken too seriously. It’s a sci-fi mystery based on a time travel story that combines elements of drama, comedy, horror, and fantasy. At times, it felt like the director had a catalog of movie scenes from which he would randomly select an item and insert it into the film. As a result, viewers are treated to a crazy assortment of aliens, dinosaurs, spaceships, zombies, kaiju, and many other things that one would not expect. The result is a more generic version of Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One. As with many time travel films, it’s hard to avoid plot twists. This film has a lot of them, often downplayed in the dialogue with phrases like It’s Allright, Don’t Worry, or Everything will be Okay. While the actors seemed to be trying their best, the acting remains another weakness of this film. The British parent at the beginning spoke as if he were recording a chapter on listening comprehension in English for elementary school. The mother didn’t shed a single tear when Velan disappeared. The funniest character of all was Mordin, the silent survivor who would save the day when everyone else would give up. Overall, our rating for Taklee Genesis is a solid seven out of ten. We saw the original version with English subtitles in the cinema.