Starring: Kane Hodder, Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell, Jonathan Potts, Peter Mansah, Melyssa Ade.
Director: Jim Issac.
A lot of people give Jason X a lot of flak because of it's premise-Jason ends up in the far future on a space ship which, admittedly, IS silly and pretty far out there-but there's just something about it that really works for me. Maybe it's the comedic tone, the willingness to make fun of itself, the craziness of it...it's not like it was an accident that it happened. The premise was specifically chosen FOR it's craziness, and that makes it kinda special.
David Cronenberg makes a wonderful cameo, gleefully getting himself splatter-killed. If memory serves, the director commentary says it was all Cronenberg, too: no stunt double or anything. That makes it so much cooler, somehow.
Once again, the movie wastes no time getting right down to it: Jason escapes (again), chops a bunch of dudes up, Lexa Doig leads him into a trap and they're both frozen. Then, the future, where kids are still idiots who do dumb shit, except that have androids and nanobots who make being stupid far less fatal. The only thing we're sure of is that the future only likes partial shirts. Everybody, especially the Women, seem to have odd sports of exposed skin in their costumes. What little shirt there is seems to be entirely woven out of carpet. The future is weird.
There are some fun characters and performances, though: Lisa Ryder as android Kay-em seems to have a lot of fun with her performance(especially as she, with a complete straight face and total conviction, bares her breasts and tells her maker that she wants breasts because Janessa has them) and Melyssa Ade as Janessa is an entertaining subversion of mean girl types. I enjoy both performances quite a bit, especially when Janessa uses a bottle of champagne and a nipple clamp to earn a passing grade in her Professor's class(the Prof is, like any authority figure in Friday The 13th, a complete jerk with no regard for anyone but himself), in a moment of rare Female sexual agency. Janessa uses the Prof, not the other way around, and while it is a sexual act, it is not one of actual intercourse. Just something to think about. Janessa also takes ribbing in a way that is very charming. Her smirk when Tsunaron(who has the worst name ever) informs her that he "could never date a girl with bigger balls than him" is very charming.
Lexa Doig is another interesting performer. She doesn't get to have much fun, unfortunately, and she has a thankless expositional role but I feel like she does a decent job with it. She has charisma and makes for a rootable leading lady, even if the scene is often stolen from her by more exciting characters like Kay-Em or Janessa. The rest of the cast is very ho-hum, and usually act like idiots. Well, okay, there's Peter Mensah as Brodski, who is a lot of fun as the no-nonsense military guy. "I promise the Professor we'd take him alive," Brodski says to his disappointed men(and Women), "so after we kill him put one in his leg so we can say we tried." Brodski has a couple memorable lines, if memory serves.
The film is as simple as they come-especially considering what series it's a part of-but the gimmick rides fast and loose. Watching the script play with the future setting (Jason's first kill involves freezing a Woman's face with liquid nitrogen and smashing her into a counter-top) is fun. As Jason wanders into a virtual reality simulator, it's hard not to just laugh and say "Geez, what IS it I'm watching?" I don't know why people hate it so: it's a fun departure and, like Jason Goes To Hell, is needed to keep the franchise maintaining any freshness whatsoever.
My favorite thing about any of this is that characters provide their own death one-liners. How awesome is that? "It's gonna take more than a poke in the ribs to kill this old dog," Brodski growls and, after he is stabbed again, he adds "Yep, that'll do it." Genius. Brodski returns-which is awesome-but it's still a fun death scene. The entire tongue-in-cheek nature of the film, and all the fun it has with itself, really is the name of the game.
Kay-Em has super-assassin android is...dumb. But it's brief. There's no denying that, as fun as this movie has, it goes off the rails and jumps the shark. Again, though: Lisa Ryder's performance is excellent. The unnatural way that she smiles and blinks...it's really a strong performance. Usually, when generally saying that I like Jason X I tend to forget that Uber-Jason exists. I'm less keen on that part. I like a good heroic sacrifice, though, and that one kid(Waylander, I think? Man the names in this movie kinda suck)gets a big one. Janessa's death is also one of my favorites in this series. I wish she had survived-I think she had kinda earned it-but it's still great. "THIS SUCKS ON SO MANY LEVELS!" As she gets sucked through a hull breach. Oh, man, is that great. It's no sleeping bag kill(though they give that a shout-out here), but it's pretty great.
The diversion VR sequence is definitely fun. He still looks ridiculous, but still: "Wanna beer? Wanna smoke some pot? We love pre-marital sex!" Then we cut back to him beating one girl with the other(both in sleeping bags) and then he homages his sleeping bag kill by slamming her into a tree. I think it's genuinely pretty funny. Even if the third act of this film almost entirely comes apart, it has enough fun jokes in it, and a big hero moment for Brodski in the end, too.
There's something to the idea that all of these characters seem to genuinely care about each other, too. It's just a nice touch that deviates away from the rest of the series. Just a note, really.
Final Thoughts: It's stupid, it's fun, it has some nice performances and a lot of heart, but not a lot of brains. But, honestly, that former part really puts it above a lot of other entries in the franchise. So, good on you, Jason X.
Final Rating: Three Stars. Yeah, I said it.
Director: Jim Issac.
A lot of people give Jason X a lot of flak because of it's premise-Jason ends up in the far future on a space ship which, admittedly, IS silly and pretty far out there-but there's just something about it that really works for me. Maybe it's the comedic tone, the willingness to make fun of itself, the craziness of it...it's not like it was an accident that it happened. The premise was specifically chosen FOR it's craziness, and that makes it kinda special.
David Cronenberg makes a wonderful cameo, gleefully getting himself splatter-killed. If memory serves, the director commentary says it was all Cronenberg, too: no stunt double or anything. That makes it so much cooler, somehow.
Once again, the movie wastes no time getting right down to it: Jason escapes (again), chops a bunch of dudes up, Lexa Doig leads him into a trap and they're both frozen. Then, the future, where kids are still idiots who do dumb shit, except that have androids and nanobots who make being stupid far less fatal. The only thing we're sure of is that the future only likes partial shirts. Everybody, especially the Women, seem to have odd sports of exposed skin in their costumes. What little shirt there is seems to be entirely woven out of carpet. The future is weird.
There are some fun characters and performances, though: Lisa Ryder as android Kay-em seems to have a lot of fun with her performance(especially as she, with a complete straight face and total conviction, bares her breasts and tells her maker that she wants breasts because Janessa has them) and Melyssa Ade as Janessa is an entertaining subversion of mean girl types. I enjoy both performances quite a bit, especially when Janessa uses a bottle of champagne and a nipple clamp to earn a passing grade in her Professor's class(the Prof is, like any authority figure in Friday The 13th, a complete jerk with no regard for anyone but himself), in a moment of rare Female sexual agency. Janessa uses the Prof, not the other way around, and while it is a sexual act, it is not one of actual intercourse. Just something to think about. Janessa also takes ribbing in a way that is very charming. Her smirk when Tsunaron(who has the worst name ever) informs her that he "could never date a girl with bigger balls than him" is very charming.
Lexa Doig is another interesting performer. She doesn't get to have much fun, unfortunately, and she has a thankless expositional role but I feel like she does a decent job with it. She has charisma and makes for a rootable leading lady, even if the scene is often stolen from her by more exciting characters like Kay-Em or Janessa. The rest of the cast is very ho-hum, and usually act like idiots. Well, okay, there's Peter Mensah as Brodski, who is a lot of fun as the no-nonsense military guy. "I promise the Professor we'd take him alive," Brodski says to his disappointed men(and Women), "so after we kill him put one in his leg so we can say we tried." Brodski has a couple memorable lines, if memory serves.
The film is as simple as they come-especially considering what series it's a part of-but the gimmick rides fast and loose. Watching the script play with the future setting (Jason's first kill involves freezing a Woman's face with liquid nitrogen and smashing her into a counter-top) is fun. As Jason wanders into a virtual reality simulator, it's hard not to just laugh and say "Geez, what IS it I'm watching?" I don't know why people hate it so: it's a fun departure and, like Jason Goes To Hell, is needed to keep the franchise maintaining any freshness whatsoever.
My favorite thing about any of this is that characters provide their own death one-liners. How awesome is that? "It's gonna take more than a poke in the ribs to kill this old dog," Brodski growls and, after he is stabbed again, he adds "Yep, that'll do it." Genius. Brodski returns-which is awesome-but it's still a fun death scene. The entire tongue-in-cheek nature of the film, and all the fun it has with itself, really is the name of the game.
Kay-Em has super-assassin android is...dumb. But it's brief. There's no denying that, as fun as this movie has, it goes off the rails and jumps the shark. Again, though: Lisa Ryder's performance is excellent. The unnatural way that she smiles and blinks...it's really a strong performance. Usually, when generally saying that I like Jason X I tend to forget that Uber-Jason exists. I'm less keen on that part. I like a good heroic sacrifice, though, and that one kid(Waylander, I think? Man the names in this movie kinda suck)gets a big one. Janessa's death is also one of my favorites in this series. I wish she had survived-I think she had kinda earned it-but it's still great. "THIS SUCKS ON SO MANY LEVELS!" As she gets sucked through a hull breach. Oh, man, is that great. It's no sleeping bag kill(though they give that a shout-out here), but it's pretty great.
The diversion VR sequence is definitely fun. He still looks ridiculous, but still: "Wanna beer? Wanna smoke some pot? We love pre-marital sex!" Then we cut back to him beating one girl with the other(both in sleeping bags) and then he homages his sleeping bag kill by slamming her into a tree. I think it's genuinely pretty funny. Even if the third act of this film almost entirely comes apart, it has enough fun jokes in it, and a big hero moment for Brodski in the end, too.
There's something to the idea that all of these characters seem to genuinely care about each other, too. It's just a nice touch that deviates away from the rest of the series. Just a note, really.
Final Thoughts: It's stupid, it's fun, it has some nice performances and a lot of heart, but not a lot of brains. But, honestly, that former part really puts it above a lot of other entries in the franchise. So, good on you, Jason X.
Final Rating: Three Stars. Yeah, I said it.
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