The studios have the nerve to ask why moviegoers are staying away from theaters in droves. It’s because they’re being force-fed pieces of crap like “A Sound of Thunder.” People who normally go to a couple of movies a month have gotten to the point where they’re saying – to paraphrase a line from “Network” – they’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. Keep putting out movies like this and you might as well start closing down theaters.
I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, “Come on. It couldn’t have been that bad.” But it was. Words can not adequately describe just how rotten “A Sound of Thunder” truly is. My husband kept asking if we could leave during the screening but I said no. As atrocious as the film was, I had to see the ending. It’s kind of like slowing down when you pass a car accident. You know you shouldn’t but you just can’t stop yourself from looking. After we left the screening he let me know the movie was so bad it was actually making him physically ill. He’s had to sit through his share of terrible movies (it’s one of the hazards of being married to a critic) but that’s the first time a movie has affected him that way. The cheese factor alone is enough to turn the strongest of stomachs.
Set in 2055, “A Sound of Thunder” revolves around a millionaire businessman who offers rich clients the chance to travel back in time and kill dinosaurs. The catch: don’t bring anything back, don’t leave anything behind, and whatever you do, don’t step off the trail. I’ll give you three guesses as to what happens and the first two don’t count.
The effects are laughable. The dinosaurs and other monsters have been inserted into the film in such a way they look like they’ve actually been cut and pasted into the movie. There’s even a scene where Edward Burns and Jemima Rooper (a Selma Blair look-alike) are supposedly walking down a street but it’s so obvious they’re walking in front of a green screen. Come on people! There’s no reason the effects should be this bad. It actually appears as if they didn’t even try to make the movie look good.
There wasn’t a single member of the cast worth watching. In fact, as they got killed off you cheered on any of the creatures who caused their death. Oh and by the way, if you’re wondering which member of the main cast gets killed off first, just recall the racial make-up of the guy who bites the dust first in almost every movie and you’ll know who’s the first one to eat it.
I have to point out one cast member who was particularly disappointing. Ben Kingsley reminded me of Henry Gibson. That’s not a joke. And Kingsley seemed to be in an entirely different film from the rest of the cast. Maybe they were all working off of different versions of the script to “A Sound of Thunder.” Whatever the reason, the result was a total lack of continuity and no coherent plot whatsoever.
Have you seen the trailer? If so, then that’s as close to watching the movie as you should get. If not, then consider yourself lucky. Rent any other movie about time travel and you’re bound to be better off than if you paid good money to sit through this convoluted, preposterous piece of work.
GRADE: F
"A Sound of Thunder" was directed by Peter Hyams and is rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence, partial nudity, and language.
