So when was the last time Emilio Estevez was in any sort of big blockbuster?? Anyone? When was the last time anyone heard anything of Emilio Estevez?? Talk about a blast from the past actor! I remember growing up at a time when both Estevez and his brother Charlie Sheen were huge Hollywood movie stars. I kinda miss those days.
This feature was one of those overly ambitious sci-fi movies that came out during the mid 90's which thought it was being really swish and clever with early virtual reality special effects ('Lawnmower Man', 'Hackers', 'Strange Days', 'Virtuosity', 'Johnny Mnemonic' etc...). Admittedly this movie doesn't actually revolve around virtual reality but it does indeed dabble with the visuals. And just like the other movies mentioned said effects have dated horribly; hell they weren't even that great back then. Ah that mid 90's frenzy over VR, hated it.
Anyway, in this science fiction bonanza the year is 2009 (made me giggle) and mega-rich folk are able to use time machines to snatch people from the brink of their own deaths and whisk them into the future so they can put their own minds into said fresh body. The reason? Well if you're old or ill and mega-wealthy you can zap a perfectly decent body (of your choice) back from the jaws of time and death and stick your healthy mind into it. Voilà! You have a new younger fitter body. Why not use people in 2009? Well in this 2009 most people are in poor physical health from environmental pollution and...drug use?
What I found amusing about this movie was how cool they tried to make it. The people you hire to drag people back through time are called 'bonejackers'. I guess because instead of jacking a car you're jacking a dead body. Yeah...'cool bro'. Alas the plot does not delve into how these bonejackers got ahold of these time machines or how they were originally invented. We must just accept this is normal practice in 2009. But get this, if someone who has been bonejacked escapes they are labelled a 'freejack'. Yeah yeah I know! They like...stuck the name of the movie in the actual movie!! Mindf*ck!!
So back in 1991 Alex (Estevez) is an F1 driver (pfft!!) who gets hurled through time seconds before he dies in a fiery crash. In 2009 powerful corporation owner Ian McCandless (Anthony Hopkins) wants Alex's body for his aging mind. McCandless has hired the bonejacker mercenary Victor Vacendak (Mick Jagger) to deliver Alex. But at the same time McCandless's second in command Mark Michelette (Jonathan Banks) secretly wants McCandless dead so he can take over. It's amazing how society changed in 18 years! Time travel was invented and people stick their minds into dead people brought back from the past!
So as you would expect this mess leads to a whole load of really crappy and dated looking action sequences that wouldn't look outta place in a TV show. Vacendak and his men drive around in brightly painted armoured vehicles for some reason (bright red and blue at one point). Vacendak rides around in a red armoured tank whilst some of his men drive around in shitty looking dune buggy things that wouldn't look outta place in the Mad Max universe. Pretty odd considering they're in New York.
There is your standard 90's fetish club sequence with loads of people in skimpy gear. Dunno why but so many 90's flicks have these. It's here that we get a cameo from Jerry Hall, gee I wonder why. Another staple of these types of 90's flicks were the clearly extremely limited sets. An issue with so many ambitious 90's sci-fi movies. You can clearly see they have literally only got one street to work with and everything is crammed onto it. They'll have a couple of expensive full-blown working vehicles. Tonnes of extras to block out the edges of the sets. And a ridiculous amount of props, steam/smog, and debris (as these are often apocalyptic settings). It's amusing because you know the camera is unable to move an inch to either side. What's even more amusing is in some background shots you can see regular New York going about its daily business.
This really is an oddball movie frankly and you need only look at the cast to prove that. Emilio Estevez is the hero yet he's not really ever been the leading man/action man type. Rene Russo plays his fiancée who again isn't that much of an action star. Anthony Hopkins has clearly made a big mistake. Probably wanted to 'get down with the kids' and in with the VR hype. And then of course you've got Mick Jagger as one of the villains, for some reason. Of all the people, why Mick Jagger?? He looks so out of place and clearly didn't wanna cut his hair for the role hence he looks a tool with that helmet perched on his bonce. This has to be one of the most mismatched cast lineups ever!
One thing I didn't really get with this movie was at the end, why does Vacendak allow Alex to go free? McCandless's mind is lost which would make Michelette the new boss. Granted Vacendak doesn't like him but why would he side with Alex? Was it just because of that one moment Alex helped him in a shoot-out? Seems a bit of a cop-out to me.
I guess this could fall under the 'so bad its good' umbrella for some. For me it's just bad. A very dated, very typical, cheap looking 90's piece of garbage that seemed to try and ride the coattails of so many other franchises. It almost feels like one of those horrific videogame adaptations that were reeled out throughout the 90's, almost.
3.5/10
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