Medieval thriller no Braveheart

Eric Patrick of FOX-TV in Miami described Timeline as "Braveheart with a 21st Century twist."\nUmm … not so much.\nAlthough Timeline was interesting to watch with all of the historical inferences and multiple storylines, it fell short of a heroic epic such as Braveheart, and failed to piece together some looming holes between storylines.\nTimeline takes place in Dordogne Valley in France where a team of archaeology students and a teacher work together to uncover the ruins of a 14th century castle and its surrounding town of Castlegard. When Professor Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly) becomes suspicious of the benefactors of the dug up site, the International Technology Corporation, he confronts them at their headquarters in New Mexico. While the professor is in New Mexico, his students uncover a chamber that has been sealed for nearly 600 years. When two students are descended into the chamber, they uncover both a bifocal lens and a paper document dated 1357 which reads "Help Me" and is signed by Professor Johnston. \nThe plot then begins when students visit the ITC headquarters in New Mexico and are informed an invention that was suppose to advance the shipping industry by transmitting objects through space has not only opened a wormhole that is connected to the 14th Century but has also taken the Professor to the 14th Century and in the middle of a feud between the English and the French.\nBased on the best-selling Michael Crichton book about archaeology students racing back in time, Timeline was at times capturing and fun. That is, if you didn't take the storyline too seriously. For instance, once the students are transferred to the 14th Century, one student meets a woman later to be known as Lady Claire. When we first meet Lady Claire, she only speaks French. However, when alone with one of the students, she is able to speak well in English. \nAs far as the acting goes, the actors seem to have fit their roles except for Paul Walker who plays Professor Johnston's son, Chris. Walker is not involved in many of the action sequences in the film, a different step from his 2 Fast 2 Furious character, but an unbelievable one as well. I only wish they could have made his part a better, more significant one. For a leading man such as Walker, his character could've been played by anyone else in Hollywood.