The Forbidden Dimensions (aka 2035 Forbidden Dimensions)
Action-Thriller | 2013 | 86 minutes | Unrated
Written by Christopher James Miller
Directed by Christopher James Miller
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Jack Slade is a janitor in 1980. Jack Slade is a struggling writer in 1998. Jack Slade is a manhunter in 2035.
Jack Slade (Kyle Morris) may be many things, but one thing is for sure: Jack Slade is a time traveller. He’s seen the future, a bleak wasteland where the evil Dr. Shector (Mark McGarrey) is turning humans into grotesque mutants. In order to stop that world from coming to pass, Jack has to find the star-child Khadijah (Jamie Katonic), the key to ending the mutants’ reign of terror.
I’ll start right out and just say that The Forbidden Dimensions is a huge mess. People, places, and plot points come and go like a game of whack-a-mole. I am still massively unclear about who Khadijah was and why she was important, despite her being the film’s main macguffin. The method and limitations of Jack’s time travel are never revealed. Sometimes his time-jumps leave him right where he left off but other times they don’t; sometimes he can take objects with him through the time stream but other times he can’t; etc. Even if all the ambiguities were explained, the film is edited in such a confusing and non-linear manner that it probably wouldn’t have helped (and yes, I mean non-linear even by the standards of a time-travel movie.)
The scenes taking place in 2035 are considerably better than the rest of the film (in the sense that there are merely pretty bad instead of terrible.) For one thing, released from the constraints of trying to act like normal humans, the actors give much more convincing performances as desperate end-of-the-world gunslingers. Additionally, the trashy future world is more believably shot than the modern world, the latter of which is treated like the filmmakers were constantly worried about being arrested for not having a permit. Ultimately, it may just be that the future scenes had the clearest sense of direction. Jack good, mutants bad, find Khadijah. I still don’t know why so much of the story deals with Jack the aspiring author, a sub-plot that totally vanishes by the third act.
One of the more positive aspects of the film is the fun and visually engaging art direction of the 2035 scenes. Yes, some of the aesthetics are ripped straight from the far superior Mad Max series, but they still add a much needed sense of verisimilitude and atmosphere to the post-apocalyptic adventure. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with inspiration and homage. The gore effects are also well done, if overdone. You can probably tell how much milage you’re going to get out of the action side of this action-thriller from the first scene, where poor Jack is killed as someone claws out from inside his chest. It wasn’t my thing, but I can see how this might appeal to fans of bodily destruction.
The editing ranges from passable to obnoxious. The film is overburdened with jarring cutting and flashy effects. At worst, there is a dream sequence near the midpoint which was so annoying and painful to watch that I considered stopping the movie right then. It should also be noted that a good chunk of the film is literal softcore pornography, and while I have no objection to a little eye candy, it ends up being gratuitous.
Kyle Morris as Jack does a mixed job. He’s perfectly convincing when he’s menacing mutants with a handgun, jacket blowing in the desert wind. When he has to engage with other characters in any sort of ordinary fashion, he comes off as too intense and unhinged. On that note, the only actor who turns in a really consistent performance Mark McGarrey as the mad scientist Dr. Shector. There’s a sense he’s having fun with the role, but never so much as to break character or lose his menace.
Overall: Somewhere between the dismal script and awful editing, a decent time travel movie could have been made. But it wasn’t.
Rating: 3/10 (Bad)
