Timeline
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 26, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
29
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
14
Negative:
16
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
There's something light and insubstantial about this movie. It almost floats away as you watch it. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Cheesy and loads of fun. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Glorious so-bad-it's-good entertainment. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Special kudos go to Walker, for his dead-on impression of a time-traveling 2x4, and the perpetually hysterical O'Connor, who delivers one of the most grating performances in history. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I felt too much of the movie consisted of groups of characters I didn't care about, running down passageways and fighting off enemies and trying to get back to the present before the window of time slams shut. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
There's a modicum of charm to Timeline, since its eager, earnest tone harks back to Donner's work from the '80s, particularly "The Goonies" and "Ladyhawke." Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Plays out like a 1950s B-movie with a fat special-effects budget. Brain-numbing dialogue, incoherent action and glaring improbabilities aside, it's a bearable combination of sci-fi paranoia and historical fantasy that drags modern viewers, and the robotic hero of "The Fast and the Furious" movies, Paul Walker, back to the centre of the Hundred Years War. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Clunky adventure story. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
You'll be checking your watch a lot during Timeline. Though most of the cast is strong and the movie has moments of suspense, ultimately the mystery in this action thriller is so far-fetched it's ludicrous. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Park
Crudely written, haphazardly acted, and improbably fun. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A resounding dud. Read full review
40
VarietyRobert Koehler
Lacks the consistent tone, pace and point of view for either a science fiction thriller or medieval war adventure. Read full review
40
SlateBryan Curtis
This isn't a movie of hoary Sherwood Forest clichés. It manages, through sheer artistic force, to stoop below cliché--to seem both fresh and rotten at once. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Scenes stop and start abruptly, and the sub–"Lord of the Rings" action is more dulling than rousing -- and yet it can be funny. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This big-budget adventure is based on a recent Michael Crichton thriller, though its premise is too stale to instill the sense of wonder critical to great sci-fi. Read full review
40
EmpireAlan Morrison
Timeline takes the most ridiculous movie plot ever imagined and multiplies it by ten. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Boring and repetitive. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Director Richard Donner finds a few startling images for bloody battle scenes, but awful dialogue prevents the actors from giving performances of any depth. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Donner's most calamitous mistake, however, was forgetting to light the screenplay on fire and catapult it from the nearest trebuchet. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Doesn't have a genuinely human moment. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
One part historical drama and one part futuristic adventure, Timeline resembles a "Star Trek" episode by way of "Scooby-Doo." Read full review
30
Washington PostRichard Harrington
Time travels, but it sure doesn't fly by in this debacle. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
An instant contender for cult status on the midnight-movie circuit, where lines like "Do we look like quantum wormhole specialists?" will be given the respect they deserve. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Timeline lacks potency, drive, wit and personality -- all the things that make escapism worthwhile. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The trouble with the movie is basically everything. It's long, sloppy, and -- to both the quantum-physics ignorant and informed -- steadily implausible, never exciting in either its skill or its ludicrousness. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Timeline gives Gigli serious competition for worst film of the year honors. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Compare it with the book, and it stinks. Look at the film on its own, and it still stinks. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This dreary science-fiction/historical-action hybrid is a misfire of staggering proportions. Read full review
12
New York PostJonathan Foreman
It reeks of contempt for the audience. This is not just a "B-movie" -- it's a B-movie that fails to entertain on any level. Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
As Timeline so adequately proves, not every bestseller will render a good film. Read full review
10
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Until Timeline reaches its flaming-trebuchet-siege finale -- which should impress anyone who's never seen "The Two Towers" -- it has the stirring production values of an episode of the Tia Carrere action series "Relic Hunter," but with only a fraction of the acting talent and intellectual heft. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Timeline has negative energy to burn. There's even less of it by the end than at the beginning.
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