What starts out to be a wild and rousing take off on Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, does actually succeed in part. But the script struggles as it gets into the second act and starts to get out of control. From there on it creates more of a ho hum biker movie than a survival of the fittest post-apocalyptic thriller. The acting could have been a lot better and the production value looks like the budget ran out a little too early. The film is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD.
The robot Ash (Suki Waterhouse), referred to as a Synthetic, happens to be the last of its kind on Earth after the world went to war against them. The war ends leaving a disease born from the ashes of the dead on the wasteland of a planet that has very little human life left. Her function is to please and that includes both sexes. Left on the wastelands are the Raiders who search for food and liquor, Drug lords who provide a high or medicines and a small segment of normal population at a place called The Oasis. Turmoil has not stopped and most all of the people left are looking for sex and drugs, except for the kingdom set up at The Oasis.
The Raiders are led by Warlord (James Franco) a killer and despot who rides the wasteland with his gang of bikers taking from those who have and moving on to the next village. He’s on a quest to find his sex doll Ash. He has settled in at Love City, a village of wanton women, sex and booze.
At The Oasis we find Prince (Jeffrey Wahlberg) worried about his mother the Queen (Lucy Liu) as she lies dying from Red Fever. The city allows decent travelers to visit the well-guarded conclave and Prince gets information that a cure is available at a place called the Temple of Life on the shore of the dead ocean at Paradise Beach, a thousand miles ride from the Oasis. Determined to get the cure, he and two friends start their trek on motorbikes. To get to their destination they must keep a fast pace, stopping only at Love City that’s run by Love Lord (Snoop Dogg). It’s where they’ll get the final directions to Paradise Island. So begins a wild trek that will take the Prince beyond his realm and into darkness.
The story sounds amazing right? It’s like a sequel to other “wasteland” films like the Mad Max series that blew everybody away in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Back then the film’s sequels took much longer to make and the price for production very high. Without the use of costly CGI these days, putting together a film needing the camera work and sets to make the film realistic has a high price tag. This, however seems to be where Future World goes awry sacrificing production value and losing the feel of the Mad Max series of a post-apocalyptic world for an ordinary biker film.
From the trailer and poster I was thinking that maybe the movie is a comical take-off on the “wasteland” genre that would actually be something pretty cool if it could be pulled off. But iMDB lists it as Sci-fi. The film even opens with a narration by Suki Waterhouse as Ash talking in a serious tone about the history behind the story of the apocalypse and how Synthetics were blamed. So much for the humor idea and too bad they couldn’t have made “that” film.
The only really good performances come from Milla Jovovich as the drugged out Drug Lord who tries to lay waste to the Raider intruders and Margarita Levieva as Lei her slave who will do anything to get her freedom. The two of them vie over getting the sexual attention of Ash in some sizzling scenes that come close to NC-17. The other actors look like they are just having fun with their roles and trying to copy characters they may have seen in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome or the recent Mad Max Fury Road.
BONUS FEATURE:
“Behind the Scenes Featuring Interview with director and actor James Franco” (13 min.) Featurette on how the story came about and why James Franco wanted to make the film.
Future World has been rated R by the MPAA for violence, sexual content/nudity, language and drug use. If you are a huge film buff of Sci-fi you may think twice about picking up the Blu-ray of the film. But if there’s nothing at theaters that peaks your interest, you may want to check this one out for another stinging and vicious performance by Milla Jovovich.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A fun flick for die hard fans of the genre. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: James Franco, Lucy Liu, Milla Jovovich. Method Man, Margarita Levieva, Jeffrey Wahlberg, Suki Waterhouse and Snoop Doog
Director: James Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung
Written by: Jeremy Craig Cheung, Jay Davis and Bruce Thierry Cheung
MPAA Rating: R for violence, sexual content/nudity, language and drug use
Genre: Sci-fi
Running Time: 1 hr. 28 min.
Video Release Date: July 190, 2018
Original Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 2018
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD 5.1
Video: 1080p HD, 16×9 Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 disc
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
