Next - Anthony Castanos

The movie Next is about Chris Johnson's ability to see the future, how the government is trying to use his power to stop terrorists, and his attempts to save his girlfriend, played by Jessica Biel, from a preconceived death. The idea of the film calls into question the concept of fate and whether or not what Johnson sees could actually be considered "the future." Technically he still has to the ability to change his decisions and affect the now rather than following a preconception that would lead to his death or some sort of trouble. It seems instead, he sees what could potentially happen rather than a definite fate. The movie suggests that there is a difference between seeing the future and seeing your fate because while you can change your present situation to adjust the future, seeing fate would have to be impossible if it's meant to be a fixed, inevitable future that can never go unchanged and seeing it ahead of time would already change what you were meant to do. This film contrasts from Minority Report in that Tom Cruise sought to follow his preconceived future to find out if it was true while Johnson makes his own future by adjusting his decisions in the now to form a preapproved future. The film takes the liberty of making Johnson's powers into physical images such as when he divides into several figures to find a prefered future.