A major thanks has to go out to my boyfriend for pushing me forward when this franchise headed down the ridiculous road. After Jason Goes to Hell, I really wanted to just stop. However, on Saturday night, after that horrible movie, my boyfriend popped in the next one: Jason X. Jason already could be all supernatural and body snatching and all that. Its not so hard to believe that its zoomed forward in time and invading space. It really isn’t at this point. Anything that can happen as far as I’m concerned with this franchise. Just depends who decides to take it on.
With that thought in my mind, I watched Jason X, still holding on to a little glimmer of hope that it can be okay.
Director: James Isaac
Cast: Kane Hodder, Lexa Doig, Jonathan Potts, Lisa Ryder, Peter Mensah, Melody Johnson, David Cronenberg
Jason Voorhees is captured and there is dispute as to how to be rid of him. Some want to risk the chances of him escaping so that they could learn from his regenerative genes and others, like Rowen (Lexa Doig) just want to put him into cryogenic status so that he would be frozen forever. After a mishaps, Rowen and Jason both are frozen until 2455, when a group of astronauts discover their bodies and bring them aboard their ship to defrost them. Although Rowen warns the professor of the dangerous Jason Voorhees and that he isn’t truly dead, it is too late when Jason wakes up and starts to brutally attack everyone in this new environment.
I can’t believe I need to refer to the last one right now because I really don’t want to. Jason Goes to Hell insinuates that Freddy Kreuger helped pull him into hell. Its puzzling that Freddy vs. Jason only happens after this movie. I guess it could be since we’ve obviously jumped into the future. Goodness knows when he was captured and brought to that lab. The continuity is yet not there. Regardless, Jason is in space now. Funny enough, that last one’s ugly weird alien baby looking thing doesn’t occur and he regenerates into a metal uber Jason (as IMDB calls him).
We’re heading into the millenium so technology should look better but it doesn’t really for some parts. This one has a lot of cheesy dialogue. It seems 2455 and 1980 really didn’t make a lot of difference when it came to the level of campy and cheese that it was all about. At least that part was kept in this. Other than that, there’s acting and sex (plus weird sex-ish scenes).
To be fair, its not as bad as Jason Goes to Hell (sorry E!). Its a tad lame and the story is full of predictable deaths and just really silly characters. Nothing really makes sense as to what happens but its more eventful than the last one and you know what, despite saying that its campy and cheesy, it was pretty acceptable.
At this point, the movies are feeling like the layout is extremely familiar and the deaths are more and more easy to predict. Jason doesn’t really develop much except the scenario he is in changes. The first 7 stayed rather true to the whole Crystal Lake thing but after he decides to head to new territory in Manhattan and now he’s in space, there really isn’t much else to feel the continuity. I mean, you’d have guessed after the last one, we’d be heading for some Freddy and Jason fun but that comes after this one.
Its pretty interesting because I think starting at this one, they start talking about the kill count for Jason Voorhees. I think they said 83 in this one. I’m guessing its a random number because there’s sections in between of his life that we don’t get to see because I can’t seem to count anything close to that number in my head. Or is there?
I’m straying away from the main point. Jason X is not a bad entry even though its campy and cheesy and the premise is completely out there. Anything is better after Jason Goes to Hell. What can I say? There’s only going up after absolute crap, right?
Have you seen Jason X? Did you enjoy it? What did you think of the whole space premise?
Tranquil Dreams 