Next

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.

I am a Nicolas Cage fan and the only movie that he has been in that sucked was The Wicker Man so I knew this movie would be pretty good and it was. You never see the twists coming very often in this movie and to be able to see your future and change it like that would be really cool for any of us. Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel were pretty good in this film too. I enjoyed it and it didn't bore me, but neither did the director's other two action films that I watched which were Die Another Day and XXX 2: State of the Union. I have heard some weird things about the director, but he knows how to make a good movie, thats all I know. Overall I give this a 7 out of 10 because it was pretty good but it wasn't perfect or anything. I would recommend it to sci-fi and thriller fans most definitely though.

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 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."

Cris is a man with a gift. He can see into the future, at least into that bit of it that includes him. It's a gift he has only used for cheap tricks and the occasional gamble, until now. Because now there is a federal agent knocking at his door, telling him she needs him to predict when and where an act of terror is going to happen.

So far the background story. It is clear that it isn't the first time that this kind of story is worked out, there are many more films that play around just the same thing really. But this one is there, and plays around the same theme in its own way. IMO, it has all rights it needs to be considered a new film. The way the story is worked out really isn't half bad.

Somewhat predictable but nevertheless amusing. rolling on steadily like a rocky river. Effects are good enough, apart from a handful, characters are believable and tension is just (but barely) enough to keep it going.

7 out of 10 futures altered