Los cronocrímenes (2007) Reviews

• The sleeper hit at Fantastic Fest 2007!!!!

  BottleRocket2007-09-30

  "Timecrimes" was a movie I almost didn't see. It seemed interesting, but since "Primer" I wasn't sure if I wanted to wrap my mind around another time travel movie. The director, Nacho Vigalondo told us this was his world premiere and he was very nervous giving his introduction. After about 90 minutes, I realized my second movie at Fantastic Fest 2007 may be the best one I see all week. "Timecrimes" was an engaging movie that is easy to follow, despite it's complex plot. I would hate to give away even the smallest of details, the title says everything you need to know. Even though I felt like I was in the driver's seat the whole movie, there were still surprises throughout that kept things interesting until the closing credits. The journey taken by Hector (Karra Elejalde) develops his character beautifully, and he is complimented by a small and effective cast. It would be a crime if this movie doesn't get the distribution it deserves. The Q&A afterward revealed some interesting behind the scenes stories and some info that made me want to see the movie again. Fortunately the buzz from our half full screening was enough to sell out the second screening at the festival. The film won Best Picture at Fantastic Fest 2007, was the Silver Medal winner for Audience Favorite, and was the highest rated film at the festival. If you get a chance to see this movie, DO IT!! ***UPDATE*** "Timecrimes" has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures.

• A Must See film.

  drdark2008-04-06

  This movie proves what Hollywood does not practice. A great movie (like this one) does not need: famous name actors, good-looking/sexy protagonists, stupendous sets, expensive special effects, gratuitous violence, & violent shocks to be a successful, entertaining, and provocative movie, which this is in every respect. All it needs is good writing, capable direction, plausibility in terms of premises and plot turns, and decent acting. This has it all. And it's a great movie. The actors are all average looking. The sets look like a normal environment. The special effects are nothing special at all. And yet, there is not a dull moment in this extraordinarily good film. Saw it at the Cleveland International Film Festival this year. It stood out from the crowd as an exceptional film

• Terrific movie that does not need to be remade!

  Agnelin2009-05-10

  It's very hard to review "Los cronocrímenes" without spoiling the fun of watching the movie and seeing how the different stories within the main plot outline keep unraveling ever so intelligently. Let's just say that it all starts out with a man watching through his binoculars and spotting something that catches his eye. He follows his curiosity, and that will be the start of some extremely unusual, mysterious, and intriguing events involving this man, a mysterious stalker with his head wrapped in a pink bandage, a naked girl in the woods, and a young scientist. "Los cronocrímenes" is a terrific movie, one that was made with a low budget, a reduced cast, and very few settings. It combines sci-fi/fantasy, mystery, action, and also sprinkles of comedy -I found myself laughing out loud more than once while watching this. It's a twisted, tragic, cynical sense of humor that I find very fitted to the Spanish way of being and general look on life. You may enjoy "Los cronocrímenes" for what it is, taking it at face value, and enjoying the twists and turns (and even if you think you've got it figured out, it keeps the ability to surprise you all along). You may also take a deeper look into it. Each viewer sees a different story and message in a movie; for me, personally, besides an extremely entertaining and thoughtful mystery and action movie, "Los cronocrímenes" offers good insight into the human soul, our deepest and darkest motivations for things, and how the line between good and evil is ever so blurry.

• One? Two? Three?

  aharmas2008-11-29

  The first minutes of this film are a bit on the dreadful side, but don't walk out or you'll miss one of the most entertaining time travel stories ever!!! This one will leave you scratching your head as how the writer pulled it off with a very intelligent, resourceful, and quite clever script. He is aided by a marvelous job of editing which along with a tight direction moves the story forward, backward, sideways, and in any way that might be needed. Our hero manages to find himself trapped in a time continuum that keeps deteriorating as he tries to find a solution to the original mess that started it all. The challenge is not how he struggles to tie the loose ends and come out of the mess he has apparently created. Messing with the time continuum always has dire consequences, and this film is a perfect example, but one thing that has always proved frustrating is being in the audience and just watching things unravel. The challenge in this film is becoming an active participant, as you try to figure out how the game is played. Making things more complicated is the scientist who decides to take a jump and test equipment that has not been properly tested. His actions, along with the main character's, put an unexpected twist in the equation, and fixing things might just be a bit more difficult that anyone ever imagined. What makes the film so spectacular is that everything is the movie is not the result of high tech, computer generated imagery, or dazzling special effects, or an overblown budget. The fact that the film doesn't even have the best actors give it a sense of reality that helps us become more sympathetic or repelled by the various "crimes" committed by the protagonist in order to fix his other "crimes". I particularly enjoyed the fact that the film has only three settings, a dark woodsy hill, an empty complex, and a home that is being remodeled. This keeps us grounded and aware that anything is possible and has a chance of happening. Never, through the entire film I even doubted the clunky machine could even work. Great science fiction!!!

• Boy, I WANTED to like this movie.

  innocuous2009-05-01

  I'm a fan of time travel movies and enjoy puzzling out the paradoxes, but this film was basically spoiled by the total unbelievability of the protagonist's actions. For example, if you went back in time (and apparently accepted the fact quite readily) and saw your earlier self with your earlier wife, would you totally freak out? It would be a lot more disturbing to me if I DIDN'T see my earlier self with my wife. Overall, the protagonist, who appears to be fairly intelligent (though with a slight kink..hint, hint), just does a lot of stupid and unexplained things, most of which are pretty violent and counterproductive. The net result is that we don't have any "A-ha!" moments where we suddenly understand why things in the time loop are the way they are. Instead, we're busy asking out loud, "Why the hell did he do that? That made no sense unless he was intentionally trying to conform to the the time loop." In short, most of the characters act like idiots.