Next

It was really interesting to watch this movie because it took the "ability to see the future" idea in a slightly new direction. The lead character can see the future, but only what happens to him and only 2 minutes into the future. Furthermore, he lives his life laying low so as to not get any attention.

Now that is a cool idea for a movie ... and it takes off from there when he finally does get noticed. Nicolas Cage does a great job of playing the lead role of a guy who just wants to be left alone. Julianne Moore is very effective as the bright and ruthless government agent pursuing Cage for the "greater good."

The movie is engaging (you always want to find out what happens next) and you get to see an interesting idea played out: how can he use his amazing yet limited ability given critical challenges?

If you're a sci-fan and like the idea behind this movie, definitely catch this. For everyone else, I'd say it's a definite thumb's up.

Next is different! Whether it is true Sci/Fi is, in my opinion, debatable. Oh yes, it IS paranormal. No doubt about that - and you find that out in the opening scene. Cris Johnson (Nicholas Cage) is a Las Vegas magician with a difference. He has a gift where he can see briefly into his future which, as any opportunist would do, he uses to his financial advantage, not only in his stage act but also at the gambling tables. But Cris is also sensible. Whilst he could use his gift to make millions - very briefly - he just makes enough to do what he wants to do in life without drawing attention to himself as he would if he consistently relieved the house of large sums of money.

Following an unfortunate incident at the casino where Cris is mistaken for a petty robber and, on viewing the CCTV coverage of the incident, FBI agent Callie Ferris realises his gift and tries to recruit him to help in stopping an international terrorist gang that is threatening to explode a stolen Soviet nuclear bomb in Los Angeles, putting 8 million people's lives at stake.

Ferris (Julianne Moore) thinks (somewhat mistakenly) that Cris can help find out where and when the terrorists are going to act before it happens but, knowing his own limits, Cris wants nothing of it until circumstances leave him with no alternative.

And then the movie ends!

P.S. It's what happens to change Cris' mind that makes this a movie well worth watching! And that's what makes it a refreshingly different and surprising story.

I watched this film not knowing anything about it or heard of it. It came up on Foxtel. What a good film. I great when you come across a random film that has a good story line which is action packed with a top cast. Nic Cage plays an interesting role which would hold endless possibilities. A man who can see the future for the next two minutes. Imagine having that talent. He does the gambling thing which most people would take advantage of. He does the girl thing knowing if he will get rejected or not. And after all the normal sort of fun things, he gets called upon by the FBI to save the human race from the usual bomb threat. Lots of action and definitely worth a watch.

Next is a much better movie than I expected to see, having read some of the reviews which called it disjointed and silly. Quite to the contrary, I found it deeply absorbing. I quickly picked up on the elements which must have caused some reviewers to accuse it of being disjointed, and began enjoying them. Of course silliness is part of any sci-fi story, we suspend our critical senses in that regard or we do not become sci-fi fans.

I single out one performer among a fine cast. Julianne Moore has really established herself as *the* deadpan action queen. She was a better Agent Starling than Jody Foster was, and she's a terrific, dominant presence in this film. Kudos to her for propelling herself to the top of a tough genre. She makes films more interesting to watch, by dint of her strong performances.

I read Phillip K. Dick's "The Golden Man" many years ago and still remember a lot of it. When I first began hearing about this movie I immediately flashed to it and wondered if this was a movie of that intriguing story. The answers are "yes" and "no." "The Golden Man" is a much more ordinary story, but with resounding insights on the consequences of his existence. And his skin was a compellingly attractive rich golden hue, which helped make him irresistible to women. None of that fits this new story, and was properly omitted.

What is translated so well from the written page to the screen is the government's intense interest in him (although for different reasons), its efforts to get him under official control, and the exceeding difficulty of doing so. And of course, the story ends in a wholly different way than the movie, a very satisfying and inevitable conclusion that bolsters Mr. Dick's reputation for opening the future to us.

*** OK, ONE LITTLE SPOILER ALERT *** READ NO FURTHER (unless you don't mind) ***

I just have to add, the flurry of action sequences which come like a staccato rendition of The Flight Of The Bumblebee during his escape from custody, is thoroughly delectable and brought more than one involuntary "Ha!" from the audience I saw it with, including from me. It's one of the tastiest treats in the film.

And finally, yes, I too wish I knew who the heck these terrorists were and what the heck they were trying to accomplish with their nefarious plot. But I guess that's the brave new world we live in. We just don't get to hear the bad guys' dialogue, their reasons for doing the things they do. In that way Next is giving us another insight, not dropping us cold as others have complained. The only legitimate beef I agree with is the entirely unnecessary and just plain goofy Nicholas Cage business during the final pursuit. It looks like it must have been an idea of somebody too high up among the moguls to deny, but it is a definite distraction causing "Huh? What?" moments when the action is at its most intense.

All in all, a feather in everybody's cap and a movie I fully recommend without reservation. Drama, humor, really fine action sequences, twists, great characters. As baseball great Yogi Berra once said, " Don't miss it if you can."

One of the few upsides of the catastrophic collapse of cinema the past 6 or 7 years is I've been going back to watch films that passed me by the first time around. This is one of those; a sci-fi-esque action thriller with Nicolas Cage as a man who can see two minutes into his own future, and Julianne Moore as the FBI agent trying to bring him in to prevent a terrorist attack.

Preposterous stuff, of course, and full to the brim with plot-holes; it's apparently based very, VERY loosely on a Philip K. Dick short story, but it doesn't ponder any of the implications of the themes it raises with any depth or make even the slightest attempt at realism, and none of it ever feels like it makes much sense.

So it's really nothing more than a big, dumb, fast-moving action flick, but it's exciting and enjoyable all the same, in an effortlessly fun way that would actually seem impossible for anyone working in Hollywood to achieve today. So I like it much more now than I would have then.

5.9/10.