Mega Time Squad 2018

Tim van Dammen will present his film in person at its NZIFF screenings.

Tim van Dammen made his name as an award-winning music video director in the UK and New Zealand, but it was his feature debut, Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song, that garnered major attention. He’s now back with an utterly bonkers time-shifting crime caper set in the thriving metropolis of… Thames.

Anton Tennet is John, a small-town criminal with a heart of gold and a mind like melted hokey pokey. John dreams of getting enough money to move to bustling Paeroa with Kelly, his boss Shelton’s sister. Sent by Shelton to rob the local triad, John snags an ancient Chinese bracelet with mysterious powers. Absconding with the stolen cash, he uses the bracelet’s time-travelling properties to escape his enraged boss, only to discover that when you start altering timelines, nothing will ever quite be the same again.

This laconic action comedy features a fully committed cast, alongside inspired performances from genre stalwarts Jonny Brugh (What We Do in the Shadows) and Milo Cawthorne (Deathgasm). Wearing its cinematic influences like a badge of honour – from the goofy mysticism and inspired action sequences of Hong Kong cinema, to the rapid-fire repartee of contemporary crime comedies – Mega Time Squad is not only a blast, but is wrapped in a hopeful veneer that could only come from a filmmaker who once worked at Pak‘nSave Thames. — AT

“Mega Time Squad celebrates Kiwi-ness, particularly the way Kiwis speak. The film is speckled with a fair few four-letter words, but if you chill out and listen to the rhythm, it’s like relaxing profane music. I just hope people can leave their worries at the door, come in and have a laugh.” — Tim van Dammen