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
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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