"Next": C+

Remember way back in the mid 90s, when you would see any action movie Nick Cage attached himself too ("The Rock", "Face/Off", "Con Air")? After "Ghost Rider", Cage desperately needs to revive his action image. "Next", it seems, was the best he could do.\n "Next" is the story of a Las Vegas musician named Cris Johnson (Cage) that can see two minutes into the future. His ability, however, is only limited to his future. That changes when he sees the beautiful Liz (Jessica Biel) in a vision. He seeks Liz out and they begin to passionately fall for one another. Enter Callie Ferris (Moore), an FBI agent who wants to use Johnson's power to find terrorists who are about to detonate a nuclear bomb. Cris and Liz find themselves running from not only the terrorists, but the FBI as well. \nThe movie is based on a Phillip K. Dick novel, the same author who wrote "Minority Report" and "A Scanner Darkly." Both of those books translated beautifully to the big screen, so I was (maybe unjustifiably so) expecting to be dazzled by clever, how'd-they-do-that? action sequences and a multi-faceted plotline for the director to play with.\nAnd "Next" delivered, sort of. There were some incredible action sequences, including Cage's character dodging a "lumber avalanche" down the side of a mountain. The gimmick is he can see himself get crushed so he knows where to be and what not to do. The main plotline is your typical, run-of-the-mill action flick. The plot is highlighted, though, by the tortured malaise Cage brings to his character. The audience feels for him, knowing that his "gift" is also the pain in his ass that forces him to isolate himself from the world.\n"Next" is not the resurrection of Cage's bad-ass film persona, but it is a promising step in the right direction.