Jason X
**½
Gosh, Friday fans just hate this movie. But you have some fervent
Friday fans that just want Jason Voorhees to stay in damned Crystal Lake and go
nowhere else. It took Tom McLoughlin and John Carl Buechler trying to adapt to
the setting but keep the series somewhat fresh with humor, supernatural
leanings, and satire. Still, there is only so much you can do with Crystal
Lake. Rob Hedden, director of Takes Manhattan, tried to go someplace else with
the character and liven things up, but keeping the masked zombie serial killer
with Mommy issues on a boat (the director had no choice, but alas…), and only
getting him in the actual New York City for brief moments just undermined the possibilities
which could have certainly left quite an impression.
Jason X (2000) was a chance for Sean Cunningham to take
Jason and just go into a storyline unlike any other. From what I have read,
Freddy vs. Jason project was going nowhere, stuck in a limbo, so why not take
the character and just go crazy? Seriously, if you don’t want this or recognize
this as part of the Friday series, fine. I don’t think it is a blight on the
film if it is considered a standalone or an extension of the Friday franchise.
Actually, in many circles, Jason Goes to Hell (1993) isn’t part of the Friday
series. In my opinion, Jason X is a comic book “what if?” film that reminded me
of those comic books in the past that pit characters from different universes
against each other, or brought characters from totally unique universes together.
You don’t necessarily consider those comics tied into the universes of those
characters outside the “what if?” books. I think Jason X was simply meant to
have some fun with the character and do some things very unique to him. For me,
Jason X is akin to AVP (Aliens Versus Predator) in that it takes a recognized
character and goes in a totally refreshing direction with it.
Is Jason X a good film? Nah, I don’t think so. But it charms
its way into my B-movie “the scientists/soldiers battle the monster on a space
ship/station” heart. You don’t always see the melding of slasher film and
sci-fi, so that in itself is rather interesting. I see this as sci-fi ideas
thought up to include Jason. I can just imagine the pitch and then the
script-writing, the ideas enthusiastically brought out while fusing Jason into
a sci-fi universe.
- · Liquid nitrogen head smash (obviously; this is in my top three from the entire franchise; I just love its outrageousness) where Jason takes this hot female geneticist, presses her head into liquid nitrogen, the face freezes, and Jason crushes her face into a counter!
- · The scientists need time to work on getting a cargo bay door to open so they can board an emergency ship, utilizing a holographic simulation depicting Crystal Lake honeys bearing their breasts near a cabin, getting into sleeping bags, capturing Jason’s attention (this clever bit shows that those behind the writing of the film are Friday fans)
- · Jason’s “2.0 design”, where nano-bots take the remaining carcass and splayed-apart body parts along with metal steel in the general area, creating a Super-Jason (Okay, I just thought he looked cool), even though this whole situation is perhaps (well, for sure) patently ridiculous.
- · A female android, build by an appealing geek played by Chuck Campbell, goes one on one with Jason, using this gun that can make huge holes and take off limbs with great power, eventually losing her head not long afterward (just including an android that wants boobs, her areoles unable to stay put!). Just the idea that out of all the characters, it is an unflappable android tossing quips is the one who gives Jason the most punishment is rather amusing.
- · Jason Voorhees surprising two characters playing a virtual reality simulation involving dinosaurs, one of which is split in half by the hockey-masked undead, regenerating psycho, eventually destroying them (one of the characters, a scrawny, harmless teenager, not only lost an arm but is broken over Jason’s knee!). Seeing Jason taking his machete into a virtual dinosaur perhaps is a fun jab at maybe Spielberg using their infamous serial killer
- · Once again a group of “grunts” (what scientists call the soldiers/security protecting their ship and station) engage a threat and do little to stop it (this time the monster is Jason)
- · “He’s screwed”. One soldier is tossed onto a giant contraption with a screw and he slides down it gradually as Jason surveys his handiwork. Another soldier is impaled on a giant anchor in another rather neat visual “after-kill”
- · “This sucks on so many levels.” One of the main supporting characters says this before being sucked into a hole in the ship’s hull (thanks to Jason) thanks to a rupture. This line of dialogue was used by critics to describe the movie.
- · Once again, the chief scientist is a scumbag. I always grin at this because it is one of those clichés that just never changes. He’s the guy looking to get ahead without others knowing it. Jason is to be his big ticket item towards easy street. Unlucky for him, Jason is reacquainted with his old machete and uses it on him!
- · The man who operates the operation of the ship is torn apart by Jason, with his bits and pieces shown all over the seat and controls, which leads to a collision with a space station that perhaps kills thousands and thousands of people! Now that is a body count!
One thing I can't fucking stand: Uber-Jason. Uber-anything just gets under my skin.
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I forgot to mention Lexa Doig while putting together my write-up this morning. I actually watched this Sunday evening, but working the night shift interfered with putting together my review until Monday morning around 6 AM. She is a scientist responsible for " putting Jason on ice." She packs the heat (shotgun) and fulfills the Sigorney Weaver requirement this type of genre movie expects. That and, her scientist isn't too bad to look at during Jason's murderous exploits.
Toodaloo
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