Toronto Film Festival 2024 Review - Escape from the 21st Century (2024)

Time travel, as a fundamental concept, can often be described as illogical. Different films tackle the idea with various rules and restrictions. Back to the Future operates on the premise that changes made in the past affect the future, while Primer delves into multiple timelines and complexities, to the point that there are dedicated graphs and video essays explaining how time travel works in the film. I mention this because, at its core, Escape from the 21st Century is a time travel story and also a martial arts extravaganza.

We follow our three leads: Cheng Yong Wang (Yang Song), Zha Wang (Ruoyun Zhang), and Pao Pao (Chenhao Li). All three live on a distant planet similar to Earth. It’s the year 1999, and one day, after an accident, they discover they can sneeze twenty years into the future. In this future, Cheng Yong Wang is part of a criminal network, Zha Wang is a reporter, and Pao Pao is dating Cheng Yong Wang’s dream girl. Upon realizing how grim the future is, they have one goal: to create a better one.

Escape from the 21st Century feels like a modern Stephen Chow film right from the start. The opening scene features a moment where a character is pulled out of the way of a steam train, with Cheng Yong Wang and Zha Wang fighting local bullies between the gaps of the train carts. It’s adrenaline-fueled, as the film hits the ground running and never slows down. Not since Kung Fu Hustle has a movie so fully embraced its zany side and been unapologetic about it.

This unapologetic tone is present throughout the film, from the incredible needle drops—ranging from Here’s to You, which took me back to the release of Metal Gear Solid V, to a hilarious use of Scotland the Brave. The music drives the film forward and is expertly used from start to finish. The tone even permeates the film’s core plot, as the time travel in this story makes no sense. But it doesn’t need to, because time travel here serves as a vehicle to tell a richer narrative.

Escape from the 21st Century is, at its core, a surprisingly anti-nostalgia film. The use of colour reflects this idea, as 1999 is depicted through a rose-tinted lens. The film suggests that, even if the ’90s and the past were better, we can’t live our lives yearning for things to be the way they were. We change, we mature, and the people we are now won’t be the same 20 years from now.

What shocked me most about Escape from the 21st Century was the strength of the filmmaking. Stylistically, the film is both imaginative and inventive, from its use of changing aspect ratios to its clever use of colour to signify different time periods. Scenes set in 1999 use a 4:3 aspect ratio and a vibrant colour palette, while those set in 2019 are presented in widescreen with darker tones. These visual cues create a clear distinction between the time periods, so even when the film jumps quickly between them, you’re never lost.

Not everything is perfect, though. The story stumbles slightly at the midway point and loses its way, but it quickly picks back up, driving toward a strong conclusion. Escape from the 21st Century is a high-energy, frantic, time-bending martial arts film. It’s silly, but it’s so lovable that I couldn’t help but be charmed by it.