REVIEW - "Next" (2007)

I’ve got very mixed feelings about this movie. I enjoyed…I think. The thing is several years ago, when I was much younger, I would’ve thought this was the coolest movie. But a lot of what’s happening in “Next” just seems too familiar and too overdone to take seriously. It feels like “The Dead Zone” meets “24” and both shows end up being superior to this film.

The film’s star, Nicholas Cage, plays Chris Johnson, a Vegas magician with a real gift—He can see the future. But there’s a limit to this gift. He can only see two minutes ahead and it must pertain to his own life. Despite the drawback the FBI, lead by Callie Ferris and played by Julianne Moore, try to track down Chris and use his ability to find Russians in possession of a nuclear bomb. The Russians also catch wind of Chris and try to kill him before the FBI can grab him. Meanwhile, Chris discovers he can see much further in to the future when he's with a girl, played by Jessica Biel. Of course the Russians capture her, the FBI grabs Chris and a whole mess erupts.

When I say "mess" I’m not sure if I mean the situation or the movie. Cage does a good job playing the clucky Chris who seems to be a meaninglessly awkward person. Julianne Moore is naturally believable in her role-- Hell I even liked Biel. But the movie’s characters take a very contrived route. The love story between Chris and Biel’s Liz has nearly no substance to it. He meets her for the first time in his life and in 24 hours or less he makes it in bed with her. Furthermore, Liz seems to make the most confusing decisions for no reason. She’s a very muddled character. The Russian villains are nearly forgettable. I suppose they had to be introduced to make the movie work, but they’re unappealing and laughably sinister. The Russian’s small talk with his superior is so bad it would’ve been better suited as a spoof in “Hot Fuzz”.

The film seems to be needlessly over-dramatic following the Russian scenes. Moore spits orders that seem to take up 10 pages of lines in just a few seconds. Again, it seemed better suited for a spoof. And for an FBI agency that has endless resources and access to an absurd amount of video footage I question how they were so easily followed by the Russians trying to kill Chris.

Originality is not a strong suit either. Many of Chris’s visions seem to be lifted from the television series “The Dead Zone” and the more original visions are too strange to really accept. It seems knowing the future gives Chris the ability to be a superhuman and take down five federal officers with ease. At least “The Dead Zone” gave its main character restraint with this concept; Chris is basically unstoppable in any immediate situation. Meanwhile, the FBI acts more like a poor man’s CTU from “24”. The security of the FBI building is horrid!

On a better note, the movie seems to work as a fun action/thriller. If you check your brain at the door and accept what is going on it can be enjoyable. Some of the visions of the future, while ridiculous, are kind of fun to watch. The characters are still likable and the concept has always intrigued me. The ending, however, will throw you off. For some, it’ll be interesting enough to satisfy. For most, and I don’t mean to spoil anything, but they’ll feel cheated—Like maybe they just sat through a certain season of “Dallas”. It’s not all bad and I wish I could say better things about it, but to see a far better version of “Next”, go check out “The Dead Zone” Season 1. It’ll satisfy more.

*½ out of ****