To be completely honest — and please excuse the obvious one-liner — "The Time Machine" is a big waste of time.

There's simply no reason for the existence of this big-budget remake of George Pal's science-fiction classic — actually adapted from H.G. Wells' forward-thinking short novel — except that special effects have progressed in realism and complexity since the '60s.

Unfortunately, while there has been dramatic progression in effects technology, storytelling quality has eroded even more dramatically during just the past couple of years.

As a result, this film is yet another CGI-heavy adventure piece that's not very involving or interesting. And frankly, despite the budget, and the presence of some very talented people, the much-ballyhooed effects aren't nearly as impressive as you might expect.

Guy Pearce stars as Alexander Hartdegen, a Columbia University professor obsessed with time. The only thing that interests him nearly as much is his fiancee, Emma (Sienna Guillory), who is tragically murdered just as the two begin to celebrate their engagement.

In the years that follow, Alexander works on an invention that will send him back in time so he can stop the tragedy from occurring. However, when he does, he finds that it may be impossible to change the past.

So instead, the heartbroken time explorer decides to take a foray into the future, and he's horrified by what he sees — mankind now occupies the moon, though with extremely catastrophic results.

In fact, he barely manages to escape from that time period before he winds up even further in the future, a time in which man has "devolved" into two species — the peaceful Eloi, and savage, subterranean Morlocks, who hunt their gentle cousins for food.

Being author Wells' great-grandson, you'd think filmmaker Simon Wells would have more reverence for the material. But this costly dud is a far cry from either the book or the beloved film.

The screenplay (by "Gladiator" scribe John Logan) tries too hard to be clever — as with winking nods to the venerated Wells and a goofy gag about an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical — and it is never as profound as it thinks it is.

Even the usually steady Pearce doesn't seem all that inspired by the material, while Irish singer Samantha Mumba, who plays the Eloi's leader, is fairly bland in her big-screen debut. Only Jeremy Irons, as the villainous Morlock leader, makes much of an impression — though some of that can be attributed to his creepy makeup.

"The Time Machine" is rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence (some gunplay, as well as startlingly violent Morlock attacks) and gore (including a gruesome scene in an abattoir). Running time: 96 minutes

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