There are good films and there are bad films, but my favourite 'genre' seems to simply be 'entertaining' films. I'm sure most people won't be putting 1992's 'Freejack' up there with 'The Godfather' and 'Empire Strikes Back' and there are probably those (mainly professional film critics with no sense of fun!) who would describe it as 'bad.' However, I totally disagree. I enjoyed it so much back when I was a teen and I still smile at it now.
Emilio Estevez plays 'Alex' - a racecar driver who dies in an explosion during a lap in 1992, only to wake up in the (at the time!) 'far flung future' of 2009 where he's been plucked from his own time a split second before his death and now someone wants to use his body for, er, some nefarious purpose.
What follows could probably fall into the 'sci-fi/chase' movie where Alex in on the run in his new surroundings while being pursued by shady forces. Now, I should mention that Sir Anthony Hopkins is on the cast list. But don't get ideas of some great 'Hannibal Lecter' performance. He's pretty much just an extended cameo. We also have Rene Russo as the 'love interest' and, like so many roles, she is only really there for the romantic element and doesn't really get much in the way of character development. However, the best 'actor' is not one of these heavyweights.
The ever awesome Mick Jagger (yes, not really known for his 'acting') is the black leather-clad henchman, in charge of a small private army of futuristic goons hell-bent on brining Alex's body in for... you'll find out what. Now, he's no actor. And it shows. I'm not going to say his performance is 'fantastic,' only that you're guaranteed to remember it for all time. The film may actually be 'average' to most, but Jagger's swagger as the henchmen is pure cinematic gold. He steals every scene - sometimes menacing, sometimes comical, always brilliant and is worth the film's run-time alone.
Nowadays, I've seen 'Freejack' has developed a small cult following in the sci-fi community and many have put it in the 'so-bad-it's-good' category. That may be true to a degree (especially when discussing Mr Jagger!), but I think it's actually a good little action, sci-fi B-movie.
Don't be too hard on it and just enjoy the ride as it's very well put together and covers quite a few sci-fi concepts that are actually quite original. Plus, when I watch it now I also realise that I've been watching 'Mike' from 'Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul' in this film for all these years and I never realised.
