Even by the elastic standards of science fiction, this derivative time-travel tale, which premiered on the Showtime cable network, ties logic into loops on its way to retreading familiar ground and calling attention to its flaws.
Three visitors from 2025 arrive in the 1990s, plagued by amnesia. A few years later, Paul (Daniel Baldwin) works oblivously as a mechanic, until mysterious dandy Aaron Winfield (Richard Herd) prods him toward a destiny foretold by Paul's latent but powerful telekinesis.
A government hit team, headed by cold-blooded Holden (Malcolm McDowell) is already on Paul's trail, and the hero barely stays one step ahead as he reunites with his former companions, Jessica (Stacey Haiduk), a crooked gambler able to foresee imminent events, and Carter (T.K. Carter), a cook who
ignites fires with his mind.
At Winfield's safe house, most of the blanks are filled in: The gifted trio, whose mothers all underwent 11-month pregnancies, represent a leap in human evolution. Such superior mutants are suffering genocide in 2025, because of the threat the 11-monthers pose to ruling authorities. Paul, Jessica
and Carter went back in time to stop Holden's incipient extermination campaign and to preserve Winfield's underground superhuman-rights movement.
In a confrontation with Holden, Paul disarms the foe with news that Holden's own wife will soon have an 11-month pregnancy--and Holden's son will be Paul. No longer threatened, Paul, Jessica and Carter drive off together.
This movie evokes the famous paradox of the time-traveler who kills his own father in violation of laws of cause-and-effect, which is frequently cited as why such journeys are quite impossible. While THE TERMINATOR (1984), STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (1986) and others kept the viewer entertained
enough to avoid asking sensible questions about time travel, YESTERDAY'S TARGET painfully emphasizes inherent contradictions, with repeat assurances that Paul and his pals are following pre-determined paths to a foregone conclusion. Even a traitorous telepath (LeVar Burton) claims that he's just
following orders. So why was a mission necessary in the first place?
Though the filmmakers try to wring maximum wonder from the plot through an oblique narrative structure, science-fiction fans should be able to spot rampant plundering of TWELVE MONKEYS (1995). While the ruthless anti-mutant death squad--strongly reminiscent of characters in stories by Philip K.
Dick--is a neat conceit, a cheap special-effects budget precludes showing too much of the heroes's paranormal powers in action, and the performances all strike a monotone note of grim resolve. (Violence, substance abuse.) leave a comment