Future World is a post-apocalyptic, action thriller that leaves a lot to be desired.
Co-directed and starring James Franco (Pineapple Express, Why Him?), Future World is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth overrun by warlords and raiders after war has ravaged the planet because of the rise of new technologies and artificial intelligence. The Prince (Jeffrey Wahlberg) leaves the Oasis, one of the few remaining safe-havens, to find medicine for his ill mother, the Queen (Lucy Liu). During his journey, he has dangerous encounters with the Warlord (Franco) and his robot Ash (Suki Waterhouse), pimp Big Daddy Love Lord (Snoop Dogg), and the Druglord (Milla Jovovich).
Over the past couple decades we’ve seen several post-apocalyptic films find success (The Road, the Mad Max film series, 28 Days Later, etc.), but Future World has failed as the next installment in the genre. Poor writing, over-the-top action sequences, and disappointing acting is a recipe for a forced storyline and all-around bad film.
Nothing about the film appears natural. In the beginning, the viewer learns that the world has reached post-apocalyptic status because of war, but why? The answer to that question is breakthroughs in the development of artificial intelligence and robotics. Within minutes of starting, the film’s storyline appears driven by the narrative of the search for remaining human-like robots, but immediately shifts to the story of the Prince and his search of medication for his mother. This felt like two different storylines were combined to create one film, which at times was frustrating. The storyline of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence became laughable when I saw the robot was controlled by speaking commands into a device similar to a walkie-talkie. That’s the advanced AI that created war?
Even with an all-star cast, the acting was subpar to say the least, and this is a kind assessment. Despite the involvement of Franco, Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, The Fifth Element), and Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill), Snoop Dogg’s peformance was above the rest and that’s because his character was the same as almost every other character He has portrayed. The minor appearances by Rumer Willis (Empire), Method Man (How High), and Margarita Levieva (Adventureland) were also borderline parody as their characters felt like they were unnecessarily thrown into the mix as an attempt to make the film more interesting.
I, admittedly, enjoy and appreciate a lot of bad films for their awfulness. I can often find something as upside to what is otherwise terrible, but in the case of Future World…nothing. I had hopes that acting would carry the film, but even that proved to be too difficult of a task. Die-hard fans of the post-apocalypse genre may find something about Future World to enjoy, but overall the film was disappointing.
