DVD
REVIEW: NEXT HD
09/23/07
Ever wonder how your life would be
if you could see the future? Do you wonder how it would feel
to know what’s going to happen, and in that knowledge, to
have the power to change things. This movie explores the
possibility and shows you the benefits and painful
responsibility of always knowing what to expect.
The movie starts by showing you a
regular man, Cris Johnson (Nicholas Cage) performing a magic
act in Las Vegas, and unfolds into the knowledge that this
is more than just “magic” but an actual ability to see what
others can’t, the future. His talent has limits, however and
the scope seems to be only 2 minutes ahead and only into his
own future, but remarkably he also has the power to change
what he saw and create different futures each time, always
knowing the outcome of each time he interferes. The one
exception is this woman, Liz (Jessica Biel) that he sees
about 2 weeks prior to actually meeting her, but once he
finds her, everything changes. Not knowing the right day
only the time he shows up every day at the location where he
saw her, and realizes with her everything changes, with her
he can see more. At the same time he is running from
government agents that would like to use him to stop a bomb
that was stolen and soon to be detonated, and also the
bombers themselves, who will kill him and anyone he cares
for to make sure he doesn’t interfere. He realizes that with
his talent once people see what he can do, the will never
leave him alone, and chooses to run from what the government
feels is his responsibility to save lives. The only thing he
care about pursuing is Liz, the woman that he feels is
somehow his destiny. It is only when she becomes a target
that he chooses to get involved.
This movie was action packed,
exciting, and delivers a wonderful performance from both
Nicholas Cage ( Face Off, Ghost Rider) and especially
Jessica Biel (The Illusionist, Stealth, 7th
Heaven), who is an extraordinary actress. They have
wonderful chemistry in this film and really pulled off the
romance part, Jessica Biel really showed how talented an
actress she is and gave the best performance of any of the
actors in this film. She has come a long way from being the
troubled pastors daughter on the show “7th
Heaven”. Surprisingly Julianne Moore‘s (Children of Men, The
Forgotten, The Hours) interpretation of her character,
Government Agent Callie Ferris, was very weak and
unbelievable, which was surprising for such a seasoned and
usually excellent Oscar winning actress. The movie itself
kept me on the edge of my seat. The effects and the way the
scenes where shot to show how the future ties into the
present were brilliant and helped to keep the movie’s pace
and believability. This is a wonderful movie that makes you
think about fate and how someone’s life might be if the were
burdened with this gift. It had a undeniable sadness to it
but it also had romance, and hope. And that’s just for the
girls. For the guys it delivers incredible action and even
some comic moments perfectly delivered by a somber and
brooding Nicholas Cage. I think this movie has something for
everyone, and will make you think, question, and feel, and
to me that is exactly what a good movie should do.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen Enhance for 16:9 TVS
AUDIO:
English 5.1
Dolby TrueHD/Digital Plus
French 2.0 Dolby Digital Plus
Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Subtitles English/English SDH/French/Spanish/Portuguese
BONUS FEATURES:
Making The Best Next Thing: Cast and crew
discuss the making of Next.(18 minutes)
Visualizing The Next
Move: Discussion on how the visual effects were
created. (8 minutes)
The Next Grand Idea:
Discussion on the development of the romance between Liz and
Cris on the Grand Canyon. (7 minutes)
Two Minutes In The
Future With Jessica Biel: Jessical Biel chats about
what it would be like to be able to look into the future. (2
minutes)
Theatrical Trailer HD
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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FEATURES |
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Review By Helen
helen@smartcine.com
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