Next

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Directed by Lee Tamahori with his customary flash and glitter, Next lives from one brilliantly executed chase sequence to the next, which is more than enough reason to stay the course.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Wildly ridiculous and thoroughly entertaining thriller.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This isn't a bad movie; it's watchable but the direction in which the filmmakers choose to take it results in a vague sense of dissatisfaction.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A watchably absurd popcorn flick about a man who can see two minutes into the future.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Tamahori attempts to cover the ludicrousness of the story with a wickedly fast pace and sensational action set pieces. And in a film more than an hour and half long, events do whiz by.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Next begins to seriously embarrass itself and its stars -- except for Biel, surprisingly, who manages to escape with a shred of dignity, possibly because her role requires little beyond looking gorgeous -- once it rolls to its climax.

Variety Justin Chang

What starts out as a mildly diverting thriller blows itself to smithereens in the final reel.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It starts exploring different facets of its premise and transforms itself into a fairly competent suspense thriller. That's enough to make it respectable, but a few things keep Next from being lovable or memorable.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Ultimately, Next is just the next Nic Cage vehicle, another quirky story that allows him to do his patented neurotic balancing act in an askew world. The problem here is not just that Cage's shtick is wearing as thin as his hair; the role is a bad fit.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Next may be the silliest movie of 2007.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

It's noisy, nonsensical, and will fade from your consciousness even before you make it out of the theater lobby, but it's entertaining enough, and Tamahori throws us a few curve balls to keep things interesting.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Next bears some resemblance to another Dick adaptation, "Minority Report," about "pre-cogs" who can anticipate murders before they happen, but it doesn't really bother exploring the moral or emotional implications of Cage's power.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

In Next, a crummy action and speculative-fiction hybrid, Nicolas Cage plays a guy who can see into the future two minutes at a time. It's too bad that Mr. Cage couldn't tap into those same powers of divination to save himself from making yet another inexplicably bad choice in roles.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

For an action thriller based on a Dick story, Next is peculiarly low-tech and hokey.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Despite an outlandish premise, Next suffers from being too conventional.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Next is clearly an attempt at a puzzle movie, one of those brainteaser pictures that lures viewers into another dimension, but it doesn't have the momentum, the quick-wittedness, to keep us wondering what's going to happen next.

USA Today Claudia Puig

This implausible action thriller also stars Julianne Moore as an FBI agent who sees Cage's two-bit Vegas act and decides he can single-handedly save the world.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Misbegotten mess.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Next, which makes "National Treasure" look like a model of narrative logic, is almost beyond criticism.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

This pseudo-Phildickian actioner is chum for the bigger fish to come this summer; for Moore, it's a slummer.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

When the story finally collapses in a heap at the end, you'll probably want your money back, but that's where the title comes in: "Next!"

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

An immediately forgettable action pic directed with a blowtorch by Lee Tamahori.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

As a thriller, Next goes a certain distance on Cage's sad-sack charm and sense of humor, but it does nothing with its intriguing premise, and it's mostly just one more tedious and progressively dumb collection of Hollywood action clichés.