I
was just watching the 2002 version of The Time Machine on YouTube. I
think the movie from 1960 was even better, but the remake is visually
stunning. I think it's a bit rushed, but it's a pretty good movie
nonetheless. This article will contain spoilers. If you haven't seen The
Time Machine from 2002, go to YouTube and check it out. It is currently
free. It was directed by the great grandson of HG Wells (Simon Wells),
who authored the book that this movie is based on.
In
the story, our lead character Dr Alexander Hartdegen, played by Guy
Pearce, travels 800,000 years into the future to get the answer to his
question. Why can't he save his true love's life? I've always found time
travel stories to be fascinating. Part of it is the way it's being used
in the story being told, but there's that longing to know what would
happen if I could change something I did in my past. I think that's
relatable for many people.
Dr Hartdegen travels
into the future and meets a race of people called the Eloi. They are
reimagined from the 1960 version of the movie and given more of a Native
American look. I think it was a good creative choice. They are young
and innocent. The doctor quickly learns that amidst the beauty of the
scenery and the stunning architecture of the cliff-side village in which
they live is a horrible truth. They exist to be the prey of the
predator class of creatures that live underground known as the Morlocks.
The
doctor is found unconscious and is taken back to the village. He wakes
up in a bed and meets Mara, played by Samantha Mumba, and her younger
brother. When the Morlocks emerge above ground and hunt the Eloi, Mira
is captured. The doctor learns that the people who are taken are never
seen again. Most of the Eloi accept their fate, so nobody is organizing a
party to go rescue anybody. The doctor gets Mira's younger brother to
tell him where the Morlocks are so that he can save Mara.
The
story in the newer version of the movie seems a bit rushed, but the
visuals help make up for that. The doctor makes his way underground and
ends up being captured by the Morlocks. As luck would have it, he is
thrown in with the Morlock leader, played by Jeremy Irons. I find this
to be a very interesting scene, and the question posed in the title of
this article is based on the 2002 movie. I ask if the Morlock leader was
a bad guy? Was he evil?
I would submit to you
that he wasn't evil. He was somebody bread to be in the position he was
in. The Morlock leader speaks of the order of things. Civilization, such
as it was in the future, had to adapt to the disaster caused by men's
foolishness in mining the moon. When the moon exploded, life on earth as we
knew it ended. The underground creatures evolved into predators, and
they functioned almost like a hive. The people who could survive on land
became docile. They co-existed with nature, but they had no big
ambition to evolve. They were easily made the prey of the Morlocks. By
taking the older Eloi and leaving the young behind, they kept them
ignorant and docile. The Eloi never fought back against them.
The
Morlock leader explains to the doctor that his people became the
hunters, but they needed order. Every colony of Morlocks evolved in a
similar way. They all have a leader similar to him. He's the one who
keeps the order in his colony. He has evolved to have a sort of psychic
ability that can manipulate people's thoughts. This is why the Morlocks
haunt the dreams of the Eloi at night. This is why the Morlocks don't
just go above ground and wipe out the whole village of Eloi and feast.
The Morlock leader's function is to keep the order so that his people can
continue to live.
He explains to the doctor
that he is a victim of his circumstances. He can no more change his
situation than the doctor can change his. He's basically telling the
doctor that he can't save his true love because that's just the way it
is. At that point, the Morlock leader tells the doctor that he has given
him his answer and he may go back to his time. He reveals that he has
his time machine. This is a gesture that should prove that the Morlock
leader was not evil. He was just keeping the order and had no issue with
the visitor. He knew that was a time machine that could have even
helped make him more powerful, but he had no interest in stealing it and
killing the doctor.
The doctor, of course, has
to make a snap decision. He did get his answer. It may not have been
what he wanted to hear, but it was an answer. It was probably the only
answer he was going to get. He looks over at the cage where Mara is
being kept. The Morlock leader explains that she is going to be breeding
stock for the Morlock race. The doctor has to make the decision. Is he
okay with leaving the Eloi and Mara in the situation they are in, or
does he want to do something to help them all? Of course, we know the
answer to that question.
What's interesting is
that this interpretation of the HG Wells classic could have been turned
into a franchise. The holographic character from the library, played by
Orlando Jones, somehow miraculously lasted underground for 800,000
years. What I find interesting is when the doctor first encountered the
hologram in 2037 and mentioned time travel, the hologram suggested the
HG Wells book The Time Machine. In the movie universe, you could even
surmise that at some point, the doctor did go back in time and tell his
story. However, there's another thing to consider.
The
Morlock leader suggested that there were other colonies on the planet
that existed in a similar way. The other Morlock colonies under ground
were similar, as were the Eloi villages above ground. This Morlock colony had
been destroyed, but others still existed. It's pretty much suggested
that the Morlock leader has mental and telepathic abilities, so one
could surmise that the Morlock leaders were in communication with each
other as needed. Maybe it was constant communication, and maybe it only
happened from time to time.
The doctor went
about educating the Eloi children. This is where the hologram came in as
he had a wealth of knowledge. The doctor himself was going to teach the
older people of the village and presumably come up with other
inventions that would help them. He might even develop a new time
machine, but that is speculation. However, in this time machine
universe, one could surmise that at some point there would be a return
of the Morlocks to attack the Eloi of this village. This time, they
would be better prepared. The doctor himself might even realize that
there were other Eloi in need of leadership, and that opens things up for
more stories to be told.
I don't believe HG
Wells meant to continue telling this story. However, the ending in this
movie leaves things open for a new story or two. Unfortunately, the
movie made about $123 million on an $80 million budget, meaning there
wasn't enough profit to entice them continue telling this story. I don't
think they were ever considering any sequels, and maybe that's just as
well.
After watching the remake again today, I
started thinking about the question of whether the Morlock leader was
truly evil, and I just don't think he was. Allowing the doctor to return
to his time was not an evil act. Unfortunately, the Morlock leader
didn't realize that allowing the doctor to leave with the time machine
would lead to the destruction of his colony. That would lead to the
question, why didn't he see that coming? I'll leave that one for another
time.
