It is often, at least for me, to find that “bad” movies are the result of a bad screenplay/story.  While these films may exhibit any other number of problems, from bad acting to bad direction/editing/cinematography, usually the worst sin a “bad” film has is related to its story.

Which brings me to Paradox.  Currently available On Demand or for free through Netflix (or was it Amazon Prime?!), Paradox is a time travel murder mystery which stars stuntwoman turned actress Zoe Bell.  Without further ado, the movie’s trailer:

Not too bad looking, if you’re into Time Travel-type tales.  Me?  I’m interested in ’em so when given the chance, I gave the movie a watch.

As I hinted above, the movie wasn’t all that good.  Mind you, it wasn’t horrible, but it just…wasn’t very good.  I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anyone, even if you’re into time travel features.

What was most curious, however, was the fact that perhaps for the first time I can recall, I found this “bad” movie’s problem lay squarely at the feet of just about everything but the screenplay/story.

Before getting into that, let me backtrack just a little: Paradox involves a small, clandestine group of scientists who are working on a time machine.  I won’t go into too many spoilers here, but suffice it to say that this group locks themselves in a heavily fortified (and relatively large) basement and are about to make their first attempt at time traveling on the night the movie begins.

When the first time travelling subject -one of the small group’s members- goes forward in time by one hour, he encounters a horror show: Blood, bodies, and general mayhem.  Further, a self-destruct sequence has been initiated and there are only minutes left before the facility goes up in flames.

The world’s first time traveler runs through the facility and finds even more evidence of grisly murder.  He quickly realizes someone in their small group is a murderer but, because the time machine is using up the entire city’s electricity, he cannot get out of the facility and, with time literally winding down, reactivates the machine and travels back to moments after he first left.

He encounters his now living companions and warns them of what is to come.

Just as he was and hour from then, the group is trapped within the fortified facility.  They do, however, still have use of the time machine…can they beat fate?

The time travel premise may not be super incredibly original but in the context of what we’re seeing its not bad.  Further, the screenplay/story is, to my eyes anyway, quite clever and provides, by the end, a very satisfying explanation/wrap up for everything that’s come before.

…but…

Man does this film have other problems.

Let’s start with the biggest: The acting.  I really hate to do this, but apart from Zoe Bell, the acting within this film is for the most part simply not very good.  The dialogue, which at times could have been quite clever and even humorous, most often falls flat because of the delivery.

Unfortunately, the problems don’t stop there.  The movie’s direction is mediocre and the budget was obviously very low, which hurts the overall product.  This is particularly evident toward the film’s “explosive” climax.

And yet…

Seriously, the story presented was, dare I say it, clever.  While Michael Hurst, the movie’s director, may not be all that good, the very same Michael Hurst, Paradox’s writer, isn’t all that bad.

It’s quite the…dare I say it…paradox, no?

In the end and as I said above, I cannot recommend Paradox in spite of the fact that in more capable hands I could easily see this film succeeding with its story alone.

Too bad.