Label: Dark Sky Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 81 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Tim van Dammen
Cast: Jonny Brugh, Hetty Gaskell, Hahn
Milo Cawthorne
Mega Time Squad (2018) is a scrappy kiwi comedy with a sci-fi/mystical tinge, based around a low-level criminal named John (Anton Tennet) who is in the employ of a small time crime boss named Shelton (Jonny Brugh, What We Do in the Shadows). When Shelton sends him to a Chinese antiquities dealer to steal cash from a foreign competitor whose muscling in on his territory John decides to make off with the cash himself. While robbing the shop at gunpoint he also steals an ancient bracelet that the elderly Chinese proprietor says will imbue whomever wears it with the ability to time travel, but also warns that it will set upon that same person an ancient Chinese demon.
It's a comedy so you probably already know that John's plan to double-cross his boss goes horribly wrong, with Shelton and his hired goons looking to execute him for his betrayal. The moment his death seems imminent it occurs to him that now would be an opportune time to give that mystical bracelet stuff a try. To his surprise he discovers that it's the real deal, but only sends him back in time about two minutes into the past, which saves his life, but also creates a duplicate of him in this timeline.
As the film briskly roles along John keeps using the bracelet, going back in time in very small increments whenever he finds himself in a pickle, eventually amassing his own gang of temporal clones of himself, who begin to in-fight literally among themselves. Through idiocy and misadventure clones die along the way, buy John never stops using the mystical bracelet long enough to keep track of how many clones there are anyway, the movie is far too shallow to concern itself with any sort of mourning or examination of time travel mechanics or paradoxes.
The film is thin on plot and character development but gets by for the most part on overly affable criminal type characters who spout off a steady string of silly sounding kiwi slang and slapstick humor. Sure, it kept me smiling throughout but in the end it was never really wholly satisfying, falling short but also not not-entertaining in a charming kiwi sort of way.
The time travelling special effect is very minimal, there's not a lot to the sci-fi/mystical elements visually, with this being a more of an indie comedy than a real sci-fi film. While the film isn't at all too keen to pay attention to the finer point of time travel paradoxes, it at least manages to keep things breezy without requiring much thought, which doesn't make for a great film but doesn't stop it from being casually fun watch either.
The film arrives on Blu-ray from distributor Dark Sky Films, who were kind enough to send this copy over for review, framed in 2.35:1 widescreen with both lossy stereo and surround mixes. The digital cinematography looks like a typical money-strapped indie film, not too stylish but every once in a while offering an Edgar Wright-ish sort of montage, but mostly looking very static and dull. Extras on the disc include a 4-min alternate opening, 10-min of deleted scenes, an audio commentary and selection of Dark Sky Films trailers.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Tim Van Dammen
- Alternate Opening (4 min)
- Deleted Scenes (10 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
Mega Time Squad (2018) is a breezy 80-minute Kiwi comedy with some not-too-well thought out time travel elements. It's a bit threadbare and silly, but but it's a corny good time, but not one I will be looking to revisit anytime soon.
