Genres

Visitors Review

Jan Bernd ten Berg 2013-05-22 08:48:23

It's lowbrow and cheesy, but it's also a lot of fun.

As far as action movies go, it is not in the league of the best (DieHard), and as far as high concept movies go it is neither in the leagueof the best (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), but it is betterthan a boatload of actioners out there. And though Nicolas Cage is notthe greatest actor alive, he makes the main character somewhat likable.The twist at the end may be a big disappointment for some, but Iactually quite liked it. Julianne Moore never disappoints and JessicaBiel is hot. The action scenes are well shot and the ever evolvinggimmick of Nick's future sight is brought convincingly. Two of the bestaction scenes, those in the casino and the one near the end are verycleverly brought to life. The down hill action scene is over the top,but compared with scenes in Pirates of the Caribian and Prince ofPersia, it is downright down to Earth.

Dezhda Gaubert 2013-05-22 03:56:05

High-concept, totally ludicrous, laugh-out-loud nonsense that is best fit for late-night television when nothing else is on.

James O'Ehley 2013-05-16 19:41:33

Someone that can change the future like Cage does here is a bit like Superman, but without any Kryptonite . . .

fung0 2013-05-16 07:09:09

Impressive SF, actually sticks to its guns

I suppose it's inevitable that this film would put off some people.It's that rarity, a science fiction film that actually sticks to itspremise, and takes it to the appropriate conclusion.First, the visual style. The film is painted using a sort ofhyper-intense palette that perfectly suits the subject matter. Thesettings, in Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles, give the filma feeling of being lost in the desert... which mirrors the state ofmind of the lead character. The camera movements and use of slo-moheighten our sense of Cage's unique perspective. In short, I lovedlooking at every frame of it.Acting? I'm no great fan of Nicolas Cage, but I felt he really fit thispart. He plays a guy who's been simultaneously blessed and cursed, andfor Cage that's a specialty. Jessica Biel is, as usual, highlyappealing in more ways than one. Despite her looks, she has a powerfulability to convey vulnerability, and to generate emotional involvement.Julianne Moore is rock-solid, of course: credible but not likable...which is exactly what's called for. And the French terrorists... whocares? They're not really a major part of the story. The wholenuclear-terrorism plot might as well have "Macguffin" stenciled on itin big red letters.The story? It's about Cage's relationship with the rest of the humanrace... and nothing else. The dramatic arc is his alone, and it isperfectly executed. Along the way, you've got action, romance, humor,drama... all at a rapid-fire pace that leaves you wanting more, more,more. You've even got intellectual stimulation; Cage's use ofprecognition is explored in every conceivable way, leading to the sortof 'wow' insights you rarely get in a mere action film.The ending? My absolute favorite thing about this film! It ends whenthe dramatic arc is complete... NOT when action-film conventions mightdictate. I applaud Lee Tamahori for doing it this way, and actuallygetting it past the Hollywood committee system. Anyone who thinks theending was wrong simply wasn't paying attention... all the signals arefairly planted along the way.For me, Next immediately leaps to the high ranks of Philip K Dickadaptations, and to the very pinnacle of the oft-mishandled time-travelgenre. (It reminded me of Retroactive, another 'small' time-travel filmthat really gets it right... albeit in a very different way.) If youlike sci-fi at all, and don't mind having your expectations challengeda bit, you definitely need to give Next a chance.

Nick Schager 2013-05-09 00:48:26

It's debatable whether Cage's supernatural ability is any more interesting than his strange coiffure.

2013-05-08 11:13:10

Next

This review is from: Next (DVD) As a collector of many movies, one of my favorite actors is; Nicolas Cage, and with that said this movie is a must for a 'Cage' follower. Each time I watch it, is just as good as the first time

2013-04-21 09:27:32

Next is a Must See

Great acting and an interesting plot made this movie very entertaining. The viewer was often caught up in a future vision without realizing it, but when brought back to reality, it became clear that whatever had been seen as the future could be altered. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a movie that keeps one guessing.

Superunknovvn 2013-04-20 20:11:23

The worst Philip K. Dick adaptation, yet

A couple of weeks ago I saw "Impostor", which had only received arating of 5.8 on IMDb, although it was a relatively entertaining movie,in my opinion. Since I liked all movies based on Philip K. Dick storiesso far, I figured I might give "Next" a try even though reviews hadn'texactly been raving about the flick.Well, "Next" deserves its reputation. Everything here is wrong, exceptfor the promising premise of the original story. The casting choicesare terrible. There is absolutely no chemistry whatsoever betweenNicolas Cage and Jessica Biel (and both act horribly). The CGI islaughable. No effect in the whole movie looks convincing. Hell, eventhe stylist did a bad job. How else could you explain the terriblewig-like hairstyles of Cage and Julianne Moore? Finally, the storyliterally goes nowhere. This is one of the most unsatisfying endingsI've ever seen (although there is something satisfying about it, andthat is that the movie ENDS).How anyone can release a movie like "Next" in 2007 and expect it to besuccessful, is beyond me. After having seen this flick I understand whyPhilip K. Dick once said that he wanted to stay as far away fromHollywood as possible.

x x 2013-04-15 08:15:54

Some dialogue was similar to that in "The Matrix".

Overall it was quite predictable, however I enjoyed the movie. If itwasn't for such a basic plot I would've given it a higher score. JulianMoore was stellar as usual, and Nicolas Cage did well for the part.Because, this is based off an old story, the bomb ending wasacceptable. Too bad the movie couldn't be updated to include a moremodern approach to the plot itself. I mean, the KGB ? Why ? Russia iscool, why make them out like our enemies after all this time. Come on,ever seen the beautiful Ukranian women ? My Gosh, the average Ukranianwoman looks like a Goddess of love. Serious, please let's not fightwith Russia or that part of the world, I like Russia ! They're coolpeople. I worked with them at Microsoft, and I also taught an Englishclass as a summer project to Russian exchange students and that was thefunnest time I've had here since moving to Seattle almost 10 years ago.Whoops, oh yes, this is about the movie. Okay, yeah, fun movie, gowatch it, it's the perfect weekend movie after a couple hours shoppingwith your lady. The beginning might be a bit slow but by the middle ofAct 2 it get's good. There was one scene that really makes you wonder,"What if I had the ability to see 2 minutes ahead in the future ? Whatis really possible with that skill ? " Dammit, I have to get back towork ! Thanks for reading my commentary. :)

Daniel Eagan 2013-04-14 19:47:25

Half of Next is a clever, unpredictable thriller... the other half is a sloppy, bloated adventure marred by cheesy special effects and some equally cheesy acting.

Ben Rose 2013-04-08 21:23:11

Flash Forward

One of those Flash Forward type story lines that almost equates to timetravel. Started off well then gets a bit crazy as he appears to be able to seeconsiderably more than one "future" and is allowed to choose the bestoutcome - what on earth was going on when they were searching thewarehouse? Why was he searching some places more than once? It justdidn't make any sense at all.Unsurprisingly, another movie that see Nicholas Cage in Vegas! Ienjoyed it though and it's one of the few movies in a while I'vewatched until the end. I'd totally understand why a lot of people wouldthink it was utter rubbish, the plot gets a bit thin at times, but ifyou're a fan of Cage and the action movie then you'll enjoy it.

postmanwhoalwaysringstwice 2013-04-08 10:36:12

Just another movie ... unfortunately

The output of Hollywood continues to be stupider and stupider everyyear. Nowhere is this undeniable truth more evident than in thecontinuing cycle of action movies that have little more to distinguishthemselves from one another than a new gimmick or special effect. Thisis particularly disappointing when it comes to 2007's "Next", starringthat fine actor who should fire his agent Nicolas Cage, because thebasic premise sounds like it could have had endless interestingpossibilities. The operative word being "interesting". UnfortunatelyHollywood seems to see the so-called lowest common denominator as thebiggest spender at the cinema. I'm truly sorry if that is you! Cageplays a Las Vegas magician who has the quirky power of perception to beable to predict his own future two minutes in advance. That's bothweird and specific, yet there's nothing the least bit whimsical aboutthe way all of this plays out. In walks the wasted talent of thefabulous Julianne Moore, a government agent (or some such) who alreadyknows his secret and is fully prepared to use him to thwart someunder-explained terrorist plot.But wait, there's more! Julianne Moore is getting up there in age, sothe Hollywood big shots figured the youth market need to have a loveinterest with the body of Jessica Biel thus tossing in a love interestplayed by Biel who Cage could see coming into his life long before hisidiotic 120 second mark. This bending of Cage's clairvoyant radarsystem allows for all sorts of plot holes to be filled by his "gift",which ultimately makes for one speedy, if spoon fed, journey. There areso many things that could have been done with two great talents and avery odd short peek into the future by a freak with a bad haircut. Whyweapons of mass destruction figured into it, we'll never know.

reyrePmadA5 2013-03-30 09:56:59

I wish I could tell the future, it would have saved me from seeing this movie...

For me, "Next" seemed like a somewhat entertaining movie, but I wasn'texpecting much. I will admit, I was actually almost a little excited tosee it. Unfortunately, I was wrong to be excited. This movie is reallynothing new, except for the cheesy concept that Nicholas Cage would beable to see two minutes into the future. The storyline sadly bored me.Eventually, I did not care what would happen 'Next'. Now with all ofthe negativity I'm associating with this movie, I will comment onsomething I did like... Toward the end, everything sort of picked up,became a little less cheesy, and actually a bit watchable, but that mayhave just been the fact that I was excited for the credits to startrolling. So, if you were to ask me, I'd say save your money and catchit on HBO in the future because it's really not worth it.

kib82 2013-03-29 23:19:38

Next is an ideal fantasy/sci-fi for those that appreciate the screen adaption difficulty of the genre

The story in Next is from one of the great writers in the genre. Thedifficulty is depicting HOW Cage's character manifests his gift. Iliked the way he played his role (but I like Cage anyway), hispresentation of a regular human with a lifelong, abnormal,unbelievable, 'super' human trait; it looked and felt real, if itreally existed, and the director's special effects, necessary toCage'character, were believable to me. I enjoyed the film. I reallyenjoy well conceived fantastic fiction or light sci-fi fantasy. And,Jessica Biel was beautiful, of course; great acting selection. I alsodidn't miss her characters interest in Native America schooling. Iwondered if her heritage was intentionally referenced. I would and dorecommend the film!

2013-03-25 07:36:16

Enjoyable and leave you hanging at the end

I have to agreed with earlier reviewers that you need to pay attentions to the dialogues because they are very subtle and witty. The nuclear bomb threat is kind of lame but I thought the film is very funny and enjoyable with all the witty alternative scenarios and pick-up lines. The movie is not about saving the world but more about a person sacrificing himself and protecting the woman he loves. The ending leaves me hanging in the air which may not be a bad thing because as Chris(Cage) said in the movie "once you look into the future, you change it and it is no longer the same." However, people at the theater seem to hate it and it didn't do well at the box office. Maybe, viewers were expecting action-thriller but instead they got a romantic comedy/drama. It just didn't fill their expectation.

2013-03-24 23:52:36

More potential than value...

This review is from: Next (Amazon Instant Video) This was an excellent idea for a movie that simply fell short. The concept is incredible and it lends itself to endless jokes, gimmicks, and plot twists that simply weren't there. In the end, this movie came out only so-so. Nicolas Cage was fine (though his hair is getting stranger as he gets older), Julianne Moore was ok but her character was not terribly well developed, and Jessica Biel was cute, again her character was not so interesting. The plot could have been bigger and more believable, the effects were fine and probably the best part of the movie, and the acting was sub par. I would recommend you ignore this title much like the box office did, unless you have absolutely nothing else to watch.

Jeffrey Chen 2013-03-23 00:18:43

Diverting enough, and actually might've passed well as logic-less entertainment if not for the ending.

Tim Brayton 2013-03-22 19:57:27

A truly great bad film, one for future generations to ponder and consider and then turn away.

Ella Taylor 2013-03-17 02:01:21

Directed by Lee Tamahori with his customary flash and glitter, Next lives from one brilliantly executed chase sequence to the next, which is more than enough reason to stay the course.

2013-03-16 19:31:25

Flawed, but Fun

I am a fan of Nicolas Cage. However, this movie does not use his talents. He seems bemused as he tries to give meaning to the character of Frank Cadillac. Jessica Biel is only used as eye candy in the movie; her character is never given any depth. Compounding the poor character development, several logic problems arise in the storyline. And, as othe reviewers have noted, the ending is more of a trick on the viewer than a twist. So why did I give the movie four stars instead of three of less? The action scenes are wonderful. Mr. Cage is at his best when the movie adds comic overtones, such as when Mr. Cage first meets Ms. Biel. Flawed but fun.