Paramount Pictures

When you think of Lee Tamahori's 2007 "Next" — or the fading, scattered memory that's left of it in your brain — the fact that it's a loose adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story is probably not what springs to mind. If it does, that's because it's one of the worst PKD adaptations that ever graced the silver screen. As a sci-fi — which is an insult to every good science fiction movie ever made — "Next" is a horrendous failure. As a straightforward, mindless, and high-concept actioner, though, Tamahori's feature is a pretty standard and serviceable vehicle tailor-made for a charismatic and ridiculously self-assured Nicolas Cage who swaggers through its brief 90-minute runtime like an infallible king of Pop Cinema.

After a re-watch, it's crystal clear that neither Tamahori nor his star was interested in exploring the richer themes of Dick's work, such as predestination or free will. The mere reason for using the source material was to snatch the main idea — a man capable of seeing his future two minutes ahead before it happens — and run with it as fast and far as possible. Damn logic, common sense, or coherence, and hail sleight of hand, big explosions, and Cage's unfortunate hairdo that somehow makes even the hottest bombshell in Hollywood weak in the knees.

Stimulating thoughts or even attempting to stage the illusion of rational events and outcomes were not on "Next's" to-do list, and you can either hate the movie for all that or let it amuse you for committing to a bucket full of insanity without batting an eye. In 2007, the majority of critics and moviegoers chose the former option, turning the film into a critical and messy commercial flop.

Paramount Pictures

The main reason behind "Next's" poor box office performance, garnering only $77 million worldwide against a $70 million budget, is that the script is littered with gaping plot holes and the entire movie feels like a limp build-up to an epic climax that never arrives.

The premise is ludicrous: FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) employs a team to chase down Cris Johnson (Cage), a petty magician going by the name of Frank Cadillac in Las Vegas, after she realizes he has some form of precognition. She wants to use him to stop a group of French terrorists planning to detonate a nuclear weapon. The bad guys also learn about Johnson's gift, trying to eliminate him as fast as possible. In the midst of all this, knowing that he's in the crosshairs of all these people, Johnson decides to play Casanova because he saw a woman (Jessica Biel) appear in one of his premonitions that may have also been a dream. This being a Hollywood movie, though, Liz is very real, and Johnson instantly falls in love upon meeting her — and vice versa.

Cue the romantic road trip and an off-screen love scene, and we're on our way to schmaltzy one-liners, cheesy magic tricks, and bombastic action scenes in typical Nic Cage fashion. Although "Next" fails on almost every level as far as science fiction and sensical narrative go, it never does when it comes to its star. It'd be wrong to say that Cage was at his peak in 2007, but his absurd yet unmistakable bravado was still in full flow, committing entirely to this vague yet amusingly bonkers character who's always two steps (two minutes) ahead. He simply sells the guy even when the screenplay doesn't.

Paramount Pictures

Given its sci-fi origins, the lack of cogency, and a story that's tonally all over the place, it's hardly a surprise that audiences expected a lot more from "Next" than what it eventually delivered. It wasn't a futuristic epic by any means, but a B action flick with a few A-listers who tried their best not to blink while delivering a bunch of baloney in the name of entertainment. Kudos to Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel playing along in a movie entirely built around Nic Cage's bonkers appeal that he made a brand out of by now (see his other sci-fi based on an H.P. Lovecraft story, for instance).

Truth is, "Next" is a fun bad movie with a good cast and performances that do a hefty amount of heavy lifting, masking its many, and often glaring, weaknesses. And the finale, with Cage walking through heavy crossfires like he's the Man of Steel, will never not to be funny and a total blast — if I could only forget that preposterous twist-ending (which, in all honesty, is very much par for the course) that somehow manages to put everything we saw on another level of crazy. That's part of the legacy of "Next," I guess, if it has one at all.