Another failed attempt to bring Dick's deliriously paranoid mind-set to the screen.
Next (2007)
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Reviews Counted:124
Fresh:36
Rotten:88
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Numerous plot holes and poorly motivated characters prevent Next from being the thought-provoking sci-fi flick it could've been.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of violent action, and some language
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins 8 secs
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:27-04-2007
Synopsis: In the years since his novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? was brought to the screen as BLADE RUNNER (1982), Philip K. Dick's paranoid, futuristic works have frequently made the same... In the years since his novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? was brought to the screen as BLADE RUNNER (1982), Philip K. Dick's paranoid, futuristic works have frequently made the same leap---sometimes as brainy puzzlers (OPEN YOUR EYES, A SCANNER DARKLY), but more often as star-powered action vehicles (TOTAL RECALL, PAYCHECK). NEXT (based very loosely on Dick's short story "The Golden Man") falls squarely in the latter category, with always-game Nicolas Cage as Cris Johnson, a man with the ability to see two minutes into the future. Afraid that all sorts of frightening demands will be made on him if the true scope of his ability becomes known, Johnson limits the use of his powers to a hokey, third-rate Vegas stage show and reading slot machines to gauge their payouts. Meanwhile, terrorists have imported a nuclear device into the U.S., with the intention of detonating it in a major metropolitan area, and F.B.I. agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) has discovered that Cris's ability is no fake and that he might be able to prevent the disaster. Unfortunately for Cris, he has just met Liz Cooper (Jessica Biel), a gorgeous schoolteacher who gets more involved in this international intrigue than she had any intention to. Lee Tamahori (DIE ANOTHER DAY) keeps NEXT's action coming at an admirable clip, fully exploiting the film's gimmick of several possible outcomes to every major crossroads that Cris encounters. Enough things explode, drive fast, and roll down hillsides to satiate any action fan looking for a well-oiled thrill machine. Cage and Moore are their usual likeable screen personas, Biel's Liz Cooper is a suitably crushworthy romantic interest, and Mark Isham's (CRASH, THE BLACK DAHLIA) score provides perfect accompaniment to the proceedings. [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann, Tory Kittles, Peter Falk
Director: Lee Tamahori
Director: Lee Tamahori
Screenwriter: Jonathan Hensleigh, Paul Bernbaum, Gary Goldman
Producer: Nicolas Cage, Norm Golightly, Todd Garner, Arne L. Schmidt, Graham King
Composer: Mark Isham
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Next
Obscurely motivated terrorists with Eastern European accents are preparing to explode a hydrogen bomb in Los Angeles.
It's all complete nonsense, of course, hampered by a clunky script and Tamahori's uneven direction (which elicits unintentional laughter throughout and, unforgivably, a dull performance from Nic Cage).
Establishes has a smart premise before it turns into another big, dumb action movie.
It is so preposterous it could almost be the spoof "bad action movie" they'd keep flashing to in a Hollywood satire.
Cage has yet another bad hair day in a Dick-based actioner that repeatedly breaks its own rules.
Lee Tamahori's ludicrous thriller is as straggly and ill-judged as Cage's rotten crop.
This one experiments with the putatively brain-frying idea of a man who can see two minutes into the future.
The best thing you can say about this blend of hard-boiled action and paranormal prescience is that it is inadvertently funny.
Cage's paranormal powers enable him to dodge arrest, assassins' bullets and even an avalanche.
Nobody said this had to be great art, but why couldn't it be a satisfying thrill machine?
This busy sci-fi thriller often seems like a page full of equations rendered meaningless by an early misplaced decimal point.
It's debatable whether Cage's supernatural ability is any more interesting than his strange coiffure.
Someone that can change the future like Cage does here is a bit like Superman, but without any Kryptonite . . .
Suffice it to say that I’m a big time warp movie fan and this is a good one.
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