By Dustin Cabeal

Reset isn’t quite a time travel movie, and it isn’t quite a parallel earth movie, but it does find a way to be a little bit of both. The story follows a science team that is studying time travel. Unfortunately, for them, the American’s are interested in their research after failing on their own and ending up with a ton of people going crazy and dying.

Xia Tian is the main character; she’s a single mom that’s still getting her life together after divorce. Her son Dou Dou, yes that his name, is mostly taken care of by his nanny because Tian is always working. Eventually, a plot unfolds in which Dou Dou is kidnapped. Tian rushes home and gets captured herself. She’s told to copy their data, or they’ll set off the bomb in her son’s neck. Off Tian goes to get two other people to scan their iris’ to get into the mainframe. Nothing goes right for her, and she’s a bit of annoying clutz. She does manage to get the information out, but when she gives it to the bad guys, they still kill her son. She gets free and decides to use the machine to jump back in time and save her son.

And thus begins the good part of the story as the time travel Tian is much more focused and aware of her intellect. She not only changes the outcome, but she comes across as an entirely different character. The problem being, she just doesn’t know how to get out with Dou Dou alive.

There are a few decent twists to the movie, but Yang Mi should be complimented on playing three very different characters. The first is the frantic mother type character. We spend an unfortunate amount of time with her, and it sucks a lot of the believability out of the film. You’re not likely to find her brilliant or even a scientist while playing this character. The second version is cool, calm and collected. She’s a major badass, but still has the right emotions for a mother trying to save her son. The third version is a hyper-violent version. She doesn’t say much, but she gives these nasty glares that make this third form of the character stand out. It’s awe-inspiring to see these differences, especially when they’re on the screen together. It feels like a different actress for the most part.

The beginning and end of the story are a bit weak. The first scenario is long and drawn out, but the intention is to establish a baseline for the rest of the story. It works, but there are a few parts that are a bit ridiculous. There are numerous parts that are ridiculous, but I can’t remember them all. There’s a weird tribute to Star Trek 4 with the rock climbing. It’s out of place and yet very funny. There’s one character that just teleports around and gets stuff done in the story. Even after being shot and left for dead he finds his way out to the lobby.

The graphics and look of the movie are fantastic. It looks just as good, if not better than a lot of Hollywood movies. The special effects for the time travel was creative, unique and so cool that you’ll wish that they had used it one more time. The story is the weak link, it’s not terrible, but it’s not so complicated that you can’t figure it out beforehand. It becomes more about the performances and the mystery behind why she was chosen for this task. That part is solid and added to the story.

It’s not surprising that Reset and Yang Mi won Best Action Movie Actress at the Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards last year. This film is his baby as he’s the special presenter and executive producer of the film. He doesn’t appear in the film, which is a change of pace considering how many movie’s he’s been pumping out lately. Overall though, if you’re looking for a solid movie about action with a unique take on time travel, then give Reset a shot.

Score: 3/5

Reset (2017) (Blu-Ray)
Well Go USA