Which isn't to say that the technicalities of the story make all that much sense to the astute adultor even the non-astute, one suspects. The concept is sci-fi light: bright but unambitious teenager Zak Gibbs (Jesse Bradford from BRING IT ON) is at odds with his scientist father of late, who'd rather see Zak applying himself to something other than the pursuit of purchasing a hot little sports car (with money he earned the easy wayselling junk on eBay). But when Zak happens upon one of his dad's experimentsa wristwatch capable of sending its wearer into "hyper-time"the teenager finds that there's more to life than fun and games. As he says, with tongue firmly in check (while inadvertently quoting another soon-to-be movie action hero, Spider-Man), "With great power comes great responsibility."
Unbeknownst to Zak and his new girlfriend Francesca (Paula Garces), they will soon have to embrace that responsibility. But first, they set out on the town to have some fun with the watch and its hyper-time properties, which basically allow the user to move faster than anyone else on the planet, creating the impression that time itself has stopped. The science in this science fiction is dubious at bestnot that the kids will mindso it's best to just sit back and have fun with it if you're over 13 years old. Which is exactly what director Jonathan Frakes and his screenwriters do with the premise.
To wit: CLOCKSTOPPERS © 2002 Paramount PicturesZak and Francesca, upon learning of the watch's powers, use their potentially world-changing device for fairly silly reasons, including causing a traffic cop to give herself a ticket, spray painting a school bully's face, and helping their friend win a DJ contest. Not exactly 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY level semantics. Nor is it what most folks would probably do if they could stop time, though it's probably best if we not go there right now...
Things get semi-serious when the nasty government agents who commissioned the construction of the watch, led by Michael Biehn (THE TERMINATOR), learn that Zak has come into possession of it. Turns out they've got hyper-time watches too, but a little snag in the design causes the wearer to age prematurely after extended use. So Biehn's bad guy has kidnapped Zak's dad and his former student Dopler (THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN's French Stewart) in order to get them to solve the design flaw. And he wants Zak's watch back toothough he won't have to look far, for Zak and Francesca are coming to Dr. Gibbs' rescue anyway. And who knows? Maybe that lesson about responsibility will be learned along the way as well.
The film benefits greatly from the presence of Frakes at the helm. His years of STAR TREK experience (as Number One on THE NEXT GENERATION, as well as director of the last two TREK films) ensure that the sci-fi-isms of the plot move along unimpeded. He also, no doubt, was able to make his young actors comfortable while shooting the effects-heavy scenes found throughout the filmhaving stood in front of a green screen himself for fifteen years now.
Bradford and Garces prove quite pleasant and do much to carry the film during the non-action scenes where the storyline threatens to peter out for its lack of logic. French Stewart is cartoonishly annoying as the inventor of the watch, though the kids will find his sitcom-styled mannerisms amusing, and Michael Biehn is fun as the frustrated villain of the piece. CLOCKSTOPPERS isn't going to win any Hugo Awards, but it's an enjoyable little movie that takes a cute premise and runs with it.
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