I Discovered Time Travel By Accident! "Primer" Review

I dare you to watch this film and not be scratching your head the whole time. Remember when “Inception: came out in 2010 and everyone felt so great that they could watch a movie that would make them feel smart? Well this movie makes Inception look like “Raiders of the Lost Ark” meaning it makes “Inception” look like a film you enjoy because you grab some popcorn turn off your brain and have some fun. “Primer” actually makes you feel stupid, so in a way it’s a little too clever for its own good, but it is still a great movie.

Do you know what it feels like to watch a group of people talk about quantum mechanics; you can’t understand a word they are saying but you are intrigued nonetheless. Now replace quantum mechanics with time travel and that’s “Primer”. I know I used the same analogy with my “The Usual Suspects” review but this time it really rings true The rules of time travel in this film (from the little that I understood) work in such a believably realistic manner that it would make Marty McFly say “Just when you thought you had seen everything”.

It is a very low budget film and that unfortunately becomes apparent throughout the film but it’s one of those times where you forgive the film. Normally when a film shows its low budget to the audience through mediocre special effects, cheap costumes, or a bad production, you wag your finger to them because you know it bit off more than it could chew, but “Primer” is a pistol that carries the ammo of a shotgun. Its script is so fascinating you forget that sometimes it looks like it has been shot with cameras of three digit value.

It reminded me a lot of the film “The Social Network” because it also was a film that had lots of jargon, fast talking, and a young pair of entrepreneurs who fall out over their invention.  The movie’s plot is key but I cannot tell you it. Not because it would spoil it but because it is simply not within my vocabulary to describe it and frankly chances are it’s neither in yours to understand it, unless you are any of the characters on “The Big Bang Theory”

Watch this film once to get the gist of the story, and then watch it about 3 more times to kind of understand how stuff works within the movie and then for good measure watch it one more time, and then you just might understand it. And by the way when I say watch it I mean WATCH IT. I don’t mean put it on and then have a crossword puzzle or a text message chain that you switch between. Heck I wouldn’t even eat anything because the 3 seconds it might take you to look down to your food you might miss some important information. Not that it would really matter because you won’t understand it anyway but still try to pay attention because it is one of those films that is so full of blink and you miss it moments you just have to suck it up and pay attention.

9/10

I think I might have asked this question before but just for the heck of it what is your favorite time travel movie? Post your thoughts below.