Future World (4 Stars)

There are actors that I love, whose films I always want to see. The first names that spring to mind are Jim Carrey and Gemma Arterton. There are actors I don't like, whose films I usually avoid. I emphasise the word usually. The best examples are Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.

Then there's James Franco. I wouldn't call him one of my favourite actors. He's not even in my top ten. And yet, whenever he makes a film I'm curious about it. I can't say why. There's just something about him that makes me interested whenever his name appears in a new film. I've been aware of "Future World" ever since the trailers were released three years ago. It's a post-apocalyptic film, and I don't usually like post-apocalyptic films. And yet it stars James Franco, so I sat waiting in vain for it to be featured on a streaming service. Finally I saw the Blu-ray on sale for 5.99 Euros, so I grabbed it. That's cheaper than the price of a cinema ticket, so if I don't like it I can give it away afterwards.

P. S. I never sell films on Ebay. If I don't like a film I give it to one of my friends who lives locally. If any of my readers live in Germany, anywhere near Stuttgart, I have a large pile of DVDs that I'm willing to give away. Come visit me with a carrier bag and I'll let you take whatever you want.

The film takes place after a nuclear war has destroyed most of mankind. Worse than the war itself was an illness, the Red Virus, which broke out after society had broken down. Under better circumstances a cure could have been developed, but it was impossible for scientists to work effectively in the devastated buildings. Now society is divided into small communities, scraping a living as best as they can. James Franco plays Warlord (without an article), the leader of an all-male motorcycle gang called the Raiders.

In the time before the nuclear war mankind had been highly dependent on sentient robots, but they're the exact opposite of Skynet. Humans wanted war, but the robots wanted peace. When the robots were unable to prevent the war they either self-destructed or went into hiding. The film features a robot called Ash. After the war she powered herself down into hibernation mode, hoping to be woken up at a better time. Warlord finds her and wakes her up. He has a remote control device with which he can control her. He makes Ash his lover and his bodyguard.

Ash is a very beautiful robot, and she's been built to be an anatomically correct imitation of a woman. This is what we can expect in the near future. Whenever there's a new invention, the first use is for practical purposes, and then people wonder if they can use it for sexual purposes. Look at the printing press. Its first use was to print the Bible, but after this it was mostly used to print small erotic stories, mostly about the sexual exploits of wandering knights. When the first films were made in the late 19th Century, they began as short five minute clips of spectacular scenes, but the main use soon became short erotic films. When artificial intelligence develops enough to make human-like robots, their first use will be to perform heavy labour, but they'll soon be adapted for use as sex dolls.

The film's hero is a young man called Prince. He lives in a farming community called Oasis. His mother is sick with the Red Virus and at death's door. There are rumours about a place called Paradise Beach where medicine is available to cure the virus, so he sets out with two friends. The first stop is a place called Love Town, where women (real women) are available as prostitutes and dehumanised sex toys. When the strippers dance the customers can press buttons to give them electric shocks. Disgusting!

This is the place where Prince first encounters Warlord. Ash seduces Prince and kills his two friends. She's ordered to kill Prince as well, but her programming malfunctions and allows her to resist the remote control. She rescues Prince and accompanies him on his journey to Paradise Beach.

Except it isn't Paradise Beach any more. The medical advances in the town are now being used for recreational drugs, and the town has been renamed Drug Town. What chance does Prince have of finding the medicine his mother needs? Added to his problems, Ash has been damaged and needs repair.

I shan't write anything else about the plot, except to mention a moving scene in which Prince and Ash discover an abandoned church in the desert. Prince tries to explain to Ash what religion is. He tells her that people used to go to church when they wanted to stop sinning. That's a very simplified summary of religion, but it's what Ash wants. Prince teaches Ash how to pray, and she asks God for the strength to stop doing bad things. She thanks Ash for "giving her a soul".

I couldn't resist including this screenshot of Milla Jovovich as the evil ruler of Drug Town. Evil? She's deliciously evil! She tempts Prince while Ash is non-functional.

This film has been awarded a whopping 0% by the reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. What??? It's nowhere near that bad. I enjoyed it, even though it's a post-apocalyptic film. The reviewers criticise it for not being original. That's unfair. Not much originality is possible within the parameters of post-apocalyptic films. The genre was defined by "Mad Max" and "Beneath the Planet of the Apes". Love Town and Drug Town could have appeared in any other post-apocalyptic film, but there are still small traces of originality. I'm not aware of any other films in which a robot finds religion. There are also lesbian scenes which are untypical for the post-apocalyptic genre. There are elements of female empowerment, also untypical for this genre. You'll have to watch the film to see what I mean.

I almost forgot to mention that there's an important mid-credits scene. Don't stop watching it too soon!

This is a film for me to keep. If you visit me, don't expect to take it with you. It's worth watching again.

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