Review of Next (1990) by Morten S — 10 Aug 2009

If you can see the future, you can save it.

This definitely wasn't the next big thing for Nicolas Cage.

Cris Johnson is a Las Vegas magician who can glimpse 2 minutes into the future. The U.S. government is aware of Mr. Johnson and his talents but they have never been able to track him down since he is always two steps ahead of him. For months, FBI Special Agent Callie Ferris has been looking for Cris Johnson since she is convinced he can help her locate a terrorist group who have a nuclear warhead. Meanwhile, Cris has been having visions of one Elizabeth Cooper far beyond his 2-minute glimpse into the future. Believing Elizabeth to be his destiny, he stakes out at a dinner and finally meets her. The two stay together, go on a road trip, and thanks to Cris' talents as a magician, they make out in a cabin. The FBI is aware of where they are and through trial and error, Cris is taken by them while Elizabeth is captured by the terrorist cell who were trying to assassinate Cris. Begrudgingly, Cris cooperates with the FBI in hopes of finding his girlfriend, tries to locate the terrorist and the nuke, and ties to see what's next for his future and the lives of many people that hang in the balance of his decisions.

This story is loosely based on the science fiction short story called The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick. Dick's stories have been adapted to good science fiction films in the past. The story for this flick was written by Gary Goldman who also adapted other Philip K. Dick stories such as Total Recall and Minority Report. Here, Goldman has done more harm than good in a film that does not have enough action or an interesting plot. The film is directed by Lee Tamahori who also directed Die Another Day and xXx: State of the Union, and Next ranks lower than those poorly received flicks. Next brought in $73,541,500 at the box office, grossing less than other Philip K. Dick stories Minority Report, Total Recall, Paycheck and Blade Runner.

Nicky Cage sometimes delivers some good action flicks and other times he just stars in poor action flicks. His acting in Next is the usual standard he delivers nowadays and the fact he is in this film is one of its few selling points. Cage's character, Cris Johnson, never explains why he has the power to see into the future or how he controls it. He never answers any real, tough philosophical questions about having the ability either. Julianne Moore seems as angry as a beaver as Agent Callie Ferris. Perhaps she got duped into being part of this film that she originally thought had some potential. Ferris isn't well fleshed out, doesn't explain why the U.S. government won't resort to the old fashioned way of finding terrorists, and her performance should have been better considering she has been nominated for several Academy Awards. This film needed a hottie factor to sell tickets, so enter Jessica Biel who delivers yet another one-note performance as Elizabeth Cooper. Cooper has got to be one of the stupidest characters ever in a Philip K. Dick film adaptation. All it takes is for Cris Johnson to pull a flower out of nowhere and she falls for him. She struts around in a towel after coming out of the shower, sees Cris staring at her, and asks "What?" Well, if you are a frequent Maxim cover girl then of course a man will stare at you when you are half naked, dumbass. The villains in this flick are given very little screen time and all their activity seems to be happening behind the scenes. Thomas Kretschmann plays the main villain, Mr. Smith, and aside from his voice, the acting done by the entire gang of terrorists is stiff.

The special effects are very poorly done for a film that was released in 2007. I felt as if I was watching special effects using an Xbox 1 video game engine. The action scenes aren't that thrilling but I will say there is some nice weaponry used by the waring factions. The climax for this film is one of the most robbing and insulting climaxes ever done to a viewer. Near the end of the film, Cris shouts at the main bad guy saying, "'I've seen every possible ending here. None of them are good for you." Cris is actually talking to the viewer and I should have hit eject at that moment. The ending is a lame attempt from the filmmakers for this film to have a sequel.

This film could have accomplished more if it had brought forth questions about having a precognitive ability. For instance, what weight does a person feel with having such a talent? Can you always avoid death? Should you even bother change the future if you can see it? The characters are also never put in really interesting and tough situations and the scenarios that are here ultimately make the story uninteresting.

The concept of Next isn't bad but this thriller fails on many levels. Check it out if you are a Nicolas Cage fan but set your expectations accordingly.

"Here is the thing about the future. Every time you look at, it changes, because you looked at it, and that changes everything else." - Cris Johnson.