Freejack

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.

In 1991's "Freejack", 2009 is a dystopian future where nearly all-powerful corporations rule a ruined environment and a wrecked economy. OK, they got that correct but then again so did the equally cheesy "Robocop". By 2009, humans have mastered the ability to control the space-time continuum to the extent they can draw people forward and replace their minds with another being held in electronic stasis. OK, we haven't really mastered those things yet but damn our telephones have gotten pretty cool. Against this shaky premise "Freejack" puts together a cast that includes the less lunatic of the Sheen brothers, the criminally underused David Johansen, the peerless Anthony Hopkins and, yes, in the Boba Fett role, Mick Jagger. And despite the compelling screen stars, it is Jagger who maintains the audience's eye despite the ridiculous headgear he wears in most scenes and the equally ludicrous haircut beneath. Jagger's charisma nearly carries the film but given that it consists of one extended car (or motorcycle or champagne truck or tricked-out golf car) chase after another after another eventually even his power to charm cannot keep the mind from drifting. During this drifting one wonders why a man with the foresight to run the world's most powerful corporation wouldn't have had a back-up plan to pluck some other body from the past if things didn't work out with the first particularly given that any screw-ups would have meant his death? Anyway, in short, people who like their sci-fi cheap and cheesy or anyone who wishes Mick Jagger and David Johansen had done more movie work will be all-jacked-up by this film.

I lap up anything with Emilio Estevez. I've always thought he was extremely underrated. Sometimes, he picks the silliest scripts. I did have some fun with this movie, but It's far from a good movie. The futuristic storyline has been done to death, and nothing really stands out about it. It has some entertaining action, good humor, and a great cast to keep you watching. As much as I love Emilio, he's not really the action star type. That being said, he managed to pull it off with his natural charisma. He borders on cockiness at times, but his charisma manages to keep him likable and easy to root for. Mick Jagger is terrible as the villain. He should have kept his day job, in lieu of dabbling into acting. Anthony Hopkins is here for a paycheck, nothing more. Rene Russo is classy as usual. She takes a one-dimensional part and makes it worthwhile. That's what genuine talent is able to do.

I enjoy it for what it is! Then again, I dig anything that is enjoyably cheesy. This movie falls under that category. They were obviously aiming for much more, but they weren't able to pull it off. Keep your expectations low, and you'll have a decent time

5.5/10

There are good films and there are bad films, but my favourite 'genre' seems to simply be 'entertaining' films. I'm sure most people won't be putting 1992's 'Freejack' up there with 'The Godfather' and 'Empire Strikes Back' and there are probably those (mainly professional film critics with no sense of fun!) who would describe it as 'bad.' However, I totally disagree. I enjoyed it so much back when I was a teen and I still smile at it now.

Emilio Estevez plays 'Alex' - a racecar driver who dies in an explosion during a lap in 1992, only to wake up in the (at the time!) 'far flung future' of 2009 where he's been plucked from his own time a split second before his death and now someone wants to use his body for, er, some nefarious purpose.

What follows could probably fall into the 'sci-fi/chase' movie where Alex in on the run in his new surroundings while being pursued by shady forces. Now, I should mention that Sir Anthony Hopkins is on the cast list. But don't get ideas of some great 'Hannibal Lecter' performance. He's pretty much just an extended cameo. We also have Rene Russo as the 'love interest' and, like so many roles, she is only really there for the romantic element and doesn't really get much in the way of character development. However, the best 'actor' is not one of these heavyweights.

The ever awesome Mick Jagger (yes, not really known for his 'acting') is the black leather-clad henchman, in charge of a small private army of futuristic goons hell-bent on brining Alex's body in for... you'll find out what. Now, he's no actor. And it shows. I'm not going to say his performance is 'fantastic,' only that you're guaranteed to remember it for all time. The film may actually be 'average' to most, but Jagger's swagger as the henchmen is pure cinematic gold. He steals every scene - sometimes menacing, sometimes comical, always brilliant and is worth the film's run-time alone.

Nowadays, I've seen 'Freejack' has developed a small cult following in the sci-fi community and many have put it in the 'so-bad-it's-good' category. That may be true to a degree (especially when discussing Mr Jagger!), but I think it's actually a good little action, sci-fi B-movie.

Don't be too hard on it and just enjoy the ride as it's very well put together and covers quite a few sci-fi concepts that are actually quite original. Plus, when I watch it now I also realise that I've been watching 'Mike' from 'Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul' in this film for all these years and I never realised.

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.