Freejack - In fuga nel futuro

OK, I'm a sci-fi movie buff. So I'm the type of person who'd like this film.

But I do have some basic standards, and Freejack is just the right sort of campy flick, sort of a "Blade Runner" gone slumming. It's bad, but it's a good bad, if you're into cult classics.

Who should see this film:

-- sci-fi movie buffs, but don't go out of your way, oh and see Demolition Man too which is similar but better

-- nobody else

I enjoyed the film, but campy special effects and silly plot mean I can only give it a 6 out of 10.

You know, one thing that really bothers me is the amount of people who just refuse to relax and watch a move without having to consider whether it should win an Oscar. I don't think Freejack was ever intended to be made for serious viewing - I think every actor in it at one time during the movie has got their tongue in their cheek.

What you do get in this movie are some spectacular effects, and I'm not talking about the end when you could just as soon go get a sandwich rather than watch the 2001-type slideshow.

It's just downright funny. Mick Jagger as the villain giving Emilio Estevez a "headstart" by counting 1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi is priceless. David Johanson shines as the shyster in any timeframe. Rene Russo gives us an early indication of screen presence. So just relax and have fun with it.

In my mind Freejack has always merged with other 90's sci-fi movies like Johnny Mnemonic and Chain Reaction. All of these had cool poster images that were seen in magazines, but other than the posters I pretty much missed out the actual movies.

Another thing that comes to mind is that the phrase "Freejack Soundtrack" is a thing...maybe even more than the actual movie. That's because I had a phase when I was a huge fan of the band Scorpions, and I remember noticing that the song "Hit Between the Eyes" was featured on the soundtrack album of this movie. So I always thought that someday I'm going to see what this Freejack actually is.

Third notion is that this is the gimmick film with Mick Jagger as an actor. I feared that if he happened to be a bad actor, then that would explain why this movie seems so forgotten. Maybe it was a flop?

All right then, let's take a ride to the danger zone and see does Freejack hit between the eyes or miss completely.

The story is original and interesting. A supposed-dead guy is hijacked to the future to be used as a new body for a dying businessman. But the body accidentally escapes, and right there we have a recipe for an action packed chase adventure.

The cast is interesting. Antony Hopkins is probably the best actor in the film but he doesn't have much screentime so it doesn't make much difference. Then we have of course the rocker Mick Jagger as a tough leader of the bad guys' army. Even though Jagger isn't a seasoned actor he looks good in the role and acts decent enough. The hero is played by Emilio Estevez. I've never really liked him. I always thought he's like a poorman's version of Michael J. Fox. But in the end Estevez redeems the role. He manages to use his blank face to create a puzzled character lost in time. The female lead is played by Rene Russo who's always got class.I just like her whenever she's on the screen. One more mention: Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad!) is in this movie too. That's awesome!

The budget is not enormous but it's big enough and used effectively. I really like the comic book vibe of the visual style, the "futuristic" vehicles that actually just are some army jeeps painted red but... hey, it works! The coolest machine is Jagger's techno-truck that unforrtunately is not seen that much.

Overall Freejack might not be a cinematic masterpiece if judged by indiviudyal acting performances, or if you're looking for some deep message that will change your life. But as an action movie it's really entertaining and stylish, and has an diverse cast of actors that just feels...cool. More than the sum of its parts I'd say.

Oh, and last but certainly not least: you can bang your head and play air guitar during end credits when one of the hardest rocking songs from Scorpions starts playing. Yeaaah!

"Freejack" has one of the more unique twists on time travel, with people of the present being snatched away from a certain death to the future. It also begins to develop a unique feel and look to it. However, it's slow in several spots and doesn't develop the imagery as well as it could.

Emilio Estevez didn't seem right for the part, he looked and came across as a kid playing in a role meant for someone older and wiser. Rene Russo is wonderful as always, and Anthony Hopkins does the best he can with his limited character, but both of them are spent on the sidelines.

The real surprise was Mick Jagger, who made a wicked villain. I wonder why he hasn't tried acting in more movies. "Freejack" has largely been forgotten, but it's still worth a look.

Veteran writer & producer Ronald Shusett scripted this one (along with Steven Pressfield and Dan Gilroy), inspired by the novel "Immortality, Inc." by Robert Sheckley. It's a far cry from the heights attained by "Alien", which Shusett had concocted with Dan O'Bannon, but at the very least it's mildly amusing, the kind of movie for which the phrase "mindless diversion" was invented. It's silly stuff, but delivers a lot of gunfire and a lot of chases, not to mention a tacky visual approach (Joe Alves, production designer on the first two "Jaws" films and director of the third, was the p.d. here). Most of the cast have been better utilized in other projects, but it's still nice to see a bunch of familiar faces here.

Emilio Estevez, not anybody's image of the ideal action hero but reasonably likeable, is race car driver Alex Furlong. Moments before he would have met his maker in a fiery crash, his body is snatched and transported into the "future" year of 2009. Now, for all the other characters, 17 years have passed, but for him the trip is instantaneous. And now he has to run, run, run, since his body is a prized possession for the person who sponsored his "trip", and he's being pursued by relentless "bone jackers", led by legendary rock star Mick Jagger in a blatant case of stunt casting.

Emilio is ably supported by lovely leading lady Rene Russo (who married Gilroy shortly after the movie was released), a slumming Anthony Hopkins (who literally "phones in" his performance), a highly animated and amusing David Johansen as Alex's shameless "friend" Brad, Jonathan Banks of later 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul' fame (at his cold-eyed, contemptuous best), Amanda Plummer (a hoot as a gun-packing, computer-savvy nun), Grand L. Bush, Frankie Faison, Esai Morales, John Shea, and Jerry Hall. But, alas, Jagger is one of those classic "don't give up your day job" type of deals: he's simply boring as the antagonist.

Overall, "Freejack" is plenty dumb, but it's dumb enough, noisy enough, and energetic enough to rate as a true "guilty pleasure". The director is the late, talented Kiwi filmmaker Geoff Murphy, who'd previously guided Emilio in "Young Guns II"; in the 80s he did a picture called "The Quiet Earth" that is much more interesting than this junk.

Kicking off the closing credits with a solid Scorpions tune, "Hit Between the Eyes", was one good idea, in any event.

Five out of 10.