10 Movies That Tragically Wasted Their Genius Premise
6. In Time
The Premise: Taking the phrase 'time is money' and using it in the most literal way possible. In the future, everyone's life is capped at the age of 25. After that, you have just one year to live. However, there is the possibility to purchase extra time and live forever, so long as you're rich enough.
What Went Wrong: The poorer find themselves dying at 25, while the rich hoard all the time for themselves, meaning they can live for decades or even centuries.
It's a great allegory for the world we live in, where the rich get richer but keep all that wealth for themselves, and it's the poorest who are typically hit the hardest. In the right hands, this film could've been a very intelligent, socially conscious film. Unfortunately, it very definitely fell into the wrong hands.
What could've been smart and savvy sci-fi instead descended into generic action fare, with barely a passable attempt at dealing with the bigger themes and ideas presented by the concept. The acting wasn't up to scratch, but it's the story that really let it down, never moving the concept beyond just that.
Still, at least we got plenty of time puns, eh?