Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Blast From the Past



Hollywood has always cannibalized itself, this is nothing new, even if something is not labelled as a "remake, it probably is. At least some other movie at some other time had a similar story. Again, none of this is new (it's done in all art-forms, you say you were "influenced"), but it bears re-stating since occasionally these cannibalisms are clever and somewhat interesting. Blast From the past is one such instance. What it really is is a re-hashing/reversal of the first Back to the Future movie. The "Marty McFly" character played by Brendan Fraser finds himself out of place in the modern world (well, 1999) just as Michael J. Fox's character found himself out of place in fifties.

Christopher Walken, as the dad who locks himself and his pregnant wife in a nuclear bunker at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis, is slightly less twitchy than normal, but still handles the part enthusiastically. Sissy Spacek gives the best, smartest performance of the movie, as the slightly scatterbrained mom. Brendan Fraser plays his part the same way he plays all his comedic parts: with no real thought. He plays comedy like an actor who wants other roles but has been thoroughly typecast. Alicia Silverstone, who has also been typecast, is slightly more game.

The overall effect is still nice enough. It makes you laugh and it makes you want to keep watching, so yes, I recommend it. Fraser can't dance worth shit, but the sequence is still entertaining. This movie has a really good soundtrack, good enough to make it onto my favorite soundtracks list, but unfortunately, most of the good songs weren't included on the official compilation cd, you will have to download them yourself.