One of my favorite hobbies is watching movies. So I thought it would be nice to add in some movie reviews on my blog. Nothing on par with some movie critiques. My first movie review is going to be “Next”, based on the short story “The Golden Man†by Philip K. Dick.
“Next” is about a Las Vegas showroom magician, Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage), who has the ability of foresight, but only roughly 2 minutes ahead of his personal life. Like any typical top secret government agency in the movies, there were people whom were attracted by his ability. Throughout his childhood, Cris has undergone examinations, primarily for others to gain knowledge and insight to his abilities which were both a gift and a curse.
As Cris keeps low profile in Las Vegas, a catastrophic threat starts to unfold. Somewhere in the heart of Los Angles, lies a nuclear device in the hands of a terrorist group. FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) believes that Cris is the key to stopping the disaster by convincing him that 8 million lives are at stake. But catching him first will prove arduous.
Now, even though Cris’ foresight ability gives him a 2 minute window, there’s a lot that can happen in those 2 minutes. There are some restrictions limiting this ability though. Cris can experience each possible scenario before they happen and correspond to take the best outcome, but only if his personal life is involved. This however changes when he meets Liz (Jessica Biel) at a coffee shop that Cris regularly goes to. Only through her is he able to view the future beyond the 2 minute restriction.
I’m not a person to spoil the movie, so I won’t elaborate too much on the plot. It was a good movie, do recommend checking it out at your local theater. It was fast paced and had me pondering what a guy like Cris would do in his situations. Obviously Cris has had some practice using his ability to its full potential. To be able to stay ahead of sticky situations gives quite a big advantage. All his movements were fluid and well timed, which would’ve taken some time to hone down.
Though there’s one thing that’s bugging me with foresight. Even though you have the best possible scenario planned out, there’s still that margin of error that can occur, especially when it’s a split second to dodge a bullet. Having seen the outcome doesn’t quite insure the fact that you will be able to perform that exact scenario. Even already knowing that outcome beforehand has already changed that outcome, whether you succeed or not. It also depends on what physical movement you’re required to engage. Typing a password in would be fairly simple, but dodging a bullet…I’m not quite so confident about. Sure you know you’ll need to twist your right shoulder, but it’s human error that still needs to be calculated into the factor.
Take dodging a bullet for an example. You can imagine (if you don’t have foresight abilities that is) the possibilities for that bullet coming at you. Heck, you can practice if you’ve got someone crazy enough to shoot you, but I do NOT endorse it. So when it all comes to the actual initiative of the movement, can you seriously follow through with the exact movement to save your life? If that example didn’t quite help, think of a repeated motion (video games) that you continuously fail but know what the outcome should be. There are times you don’t even come close to that outcome. So it all comes down to the difficulty of the action and the margin of human error involved.
Nevertheless, great movie. Enjoyed every moment of it. Really opens up the idea that making the wrong decision can prove fatal. Just how many times have you been lucky to make a wise decision?
Cast
Nicolas Cage
Julianne Moore
Jessica Biel
Thomas Kretschmann
Tory Kittles
Peter Falk
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