Time Travel Is Dangerous: Review. By Simon Thompson.

Writer/director Chris Reading’s Time Travel Is Dangerous is a classic example of having a decent premise and a capable cast, yet still not being able to hit the mark due to a tired format and style of humour. This, thanks to a script by both Reading and co-writers Anna Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare, apes British comedy classics such as Spaced, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Time Bandits, The Cornetto Trilogy, and The Office, without any of the wit or the originality of any of them. 

The plot of Time Travel Is Dangerous centres around two friends named Ruth (Ruth Syratt) and Megan (Megan Stevenson), who run a vintage shop in Muswell Hill. The pair stumble across a time machine by accident, and decide to use it to raid the past for items to stock in their shop, creating chaos within the space-time continuum in the process. 

The main issues with Time Travel Is Dangerous boil down to its writing. Reading and his co-writers Elizabeth and Hillary Shakespeare’s script, mainly uses an irritating format of both mockumentary and cringe humour that in a post The Office and Peep Show British comedy landscape has been completely overdone by lesser writing talents, to the extent that it is now incredibly irritating to watch. 

What makes this all the more frustrating is that there is plenty of comedic talent within the cast, such as Stephen Fry (who plays the role of the narrator), Johnny Vegas, Jane Horrocks, and Mark Heap – all of whom deserve far better than the script that they were given. 

The performances by Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson, in their respective roles, to their credit, are both passable, especially when you consider that this is the first movie for both of them and that despite being surrounded by an experienced and highly capable supporting cast they aren’t completely out of place within it. 

Credit is due where credit is due, however when, it comes to the visuals, as Reading does an adequate job of capturing that Terry Gilliam/Jim Henson retro 80s fantasy aesthetic when it comes to a section of time and space Ruth visits towards the end of the movie, as well as  achieving a similar effect within the various periods that the characters visit. 

Overall Time Travel Is Dangerous, despite a few visual flourishes here and there, is an unfunny, trite, and dull affair which didn’t even come close to meeting my personal two laughs minimum criteria for a comedy. If you’re in the market for a British comedy, I’d strongly recommend that you give this one a miss and spend your evening watching Hot Fuzz or Four Lions instead.

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