Curious as a precursor to 'Minority Report', this action thriller focuses on a maverick cop who discovers the existence of policemen from the future who have been sent back in time to make the "past perfect" by eliminating future criminals during their teen years. It is an intriguing premise, and the film does well at only gradually divulging its sci-fi ideas. In fact, the first twenty or so minutes play out as a standard police detective action film before the time travelers emerge. And they are a creepy bunch at that, wearing synthetic skin and robotic arms; the first execution for future crimes is particularly eerie as we only hear it with glowing red light visible from a distance. The film trips up though when it tries to explain all its pseudoscience in greater detail with plot holes and inconsistencies in terms of the butterfly effects of altering the past and what happens when their bodies get exposed to air. There are also some crazy stereotype Neo-Nazi characters whose soul purpose in the narrative seems to be to provide an over-the-top chase scene through a restaurant kitchen (where else?). That said, the film does have some very novel chase sequences, including an extended one in which the protagonist has to work out whether he is driving through real dangers or merely holograms set by the future cops. It is generally an exciting movie too, filmed at an appropriately frantic pace.
Review of Past Perfect
