There were high hopes that Jonathan Frakes' family-oriented sci-fi flick CLOCKSTOPPERS might be able to duplicate the enormous success of last year's sleeper hitand like-mindedSPY KIDS. Before CLOCKSTOPPERS opened, Frakes, Paramount, and co-producer Nickelodeon all had visions of sequels and television spin-offs dancing in their heads. But now that the film has come and gone with distinctly non-SPY KIDS box office, such talk has all but disappeared. Which is probably just as well, for while CLOCKSTOPPERS is a fun family film with a genre twist, it doesn't exactly reek of being sequel-worthy.
The premise of the film is intriguing, if age-old. Young hero and would-be teen heartthrob Zak Gibbs (Jesse Bradford, most recognized at the moment from BRING IT ON and soon to be seen in SWIMFAN) is your average high school age kidaverage, apart from the fact that he doesn't drink, take Ecstasy, or have sex. His dad is a genius physicist who has helped his former student, the even more brilliant Dopler (THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN's French Stewart), to invent a watch that is capable of stopping time. At least, that's what the watch seems to be doing as perceived by its wearer; in fact, the user of the device is actually in a state of "hyper-time," moving so fast that everyone and everything around them seems to be frozen in place.
Of course, Zak stumbles upon the watch and its rather useful properties and, along with his newfound girlfriend Francesca (the cute Paula Garces), embarks on a life of fun. Again, Zak's idea of fun is firmly rooted in the Nickelodeon style of teenager-dom. I can only imagine what a real-life teenager would do if granted such a devicecertainly jail time would be in order when all was said and done, that's for sure.
At any rate, Zak soon finds that the creative use of the watch for fun is the least of his problems, for some nasty government agesand we know they're nasty because they're dressed in blackhave kidnapped both Dopler and Zak's dad. Headed by former TERMINATOR hunter Michael Biehn, these villains fall strictly into the non-scary variety of bad guy. In fact, they're one step away from the cartoonish villains of HOME ALONE played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. The problem with that is the viewer never really feels that there is much at stake for our heroessure, Dad's been kidnapped. But it's not like they're going to hurt him or something.
The film benefits largely from the likable leads, particularly Bradford and Garces. And the visual effects are very well realized without feeling the need to be budget-busting (Frakes has directed two STAR TREK films after all). Some of the humor is cute, if innocuous.
The bottom line is kids will probably love CLOCKSTOPPERS, but adults will be bored by it. There's little of the adult-edged humor that would keep parents interested, and sci-fi fans will be offended at the lapses in logic that the picture is guilty of. If you're truly looking for a time-stopping adventure that isn't geared towards the kids, check out the old TV movie THE GIRL, THE GOLDWATCH AND EVERYTHING. Or better yet, look for the NEXT GENERATION episode "Timescape," featuring Mr. Frakes himself.
The film is given a nice widescreen anamorphic transfer on this disc, along with the usual Dolby Digital audio options. The extra features here aren't quite so pleasant, or abundant, though. A short featurette called "The Making of CLOCKSTOPPERS" is a studio fluff piece, but not a bad one. The two included music videos are grating if you don't belong to the under-16 crowd. There's also a trailer and promotional spots. And the lack of an audio commentary from the ever-pleasant Frakes is a letdown.
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