Subject: Review: JASON X (2001)

From: Michael B. Scrutchin <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 17:29:29 -0000

JASON X | B-

New Line Cinema: http://www.newline.com

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Year Released: 2002
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jim Isaac
Writer: Todd Farmer
Cast: Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell, Peter Mensah, Jonathan Potts, 
Melyssa Ade, Melody Johnson, Derwin Jordan, Kane Hodder.
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Review by Michael B. Scrutchin | http://www.flipsidemovies.com

JASON X is the kind of mindlessly fun action-horror romp that RESIDENT EVIL 
could have been if it hadn't taken itself so seriously. This 10th entry in 
the FRIDAY THE 13TH series is well aware of all the tired slasher 
conventions, and it employs them with a self-deprecating sense of humor 
that's refreshing. But the humor won't win over everyone. Geoff Pevere of 
the Toronto Star writes: "Does winky ironic self-consciousness of one's own 
crappiness... make the object in question any less crappy? If a turd winks, 
does that make it any less a turd?" In this case, I'd say yes.

The movie takes place in the year 2455. A professor and his students on 
their way back to Earth II make a stop at the Camp Crystal Lake Research 
Facility on Old Earth (now a wasteland) and discover two cryogenically 
frozen bodies. One is hockey-masked Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder), the 
murderous bastard who can't seem to be destroyed even by a trip to hell. The 
other is Rowan (Lexa Doig), a foxy scientist who knows Jason's 
machete-wielding history. The professor decides to take the bodies with 
them. They thaw out Rowan, who nails the title of the all-time hottest chick 
over 455 years old. Jason, however, seems as dead as ever. What causes him 
to wake up from his 455-year sleep? The sense that two teenagers are having 
sex down the hall.

While I initially scoffed at the idea of Jason running amok on a spaceship, 
the film quickly won me over with its slightly self-mocking tone. It doesn't 
take itself too seriously, nor does it ever stoop to outright self-parody, 
instead opting for a tone that implies screenwriter Todd Farmer and director 
Jim Isaac have their tongues planted firmly in cheek, but don't think 
they're better than the material. It's clear they're F13 fans just out to 
deliver a fun time with a few laughs and maybe some scares, too.

In fact, there is one scare that literally made me jump. That moment is 
followed by the most visually creative kill in the movie -- which shows a 
pretty young woman's face being frozen in liquid nitrogen, then smashed 
against a counter and shattering into bloody shards. While a few of the 
murders are a bit mundane, there's enough neck-snapping, throat-slicing, 
impaling, and decapitating to keep most Jason fans happy. Fans of FRIDAY THE 
13TH PART VII's sleeping bag death will probably be delighted with the 
hilarious surprise near the end. There's a decent amount of gore, but it's 
not as gruesome as the previous entry, 1993's JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL 
FRIDAY. Incidentally, it's not as quite as much fun, nor nearly as good as 
its immediate predecessor, but I digress.

The characters here are little more than fodder for Jason. As a cute android 
with detachable nipples, Lisa Ryder is fun and likable, while Peter Mensah 
as the badass Sergeant Brodski is easy to root for. Lexa Doig as Rowan isn't 
given much to do but look pretty, though she does have at least one good 
line. When someone asks what the hell is going on, she replies: "Jason 
fucking Voorhees, that's what!" And everyone's favorite Jason, Kane Hodder, 
is back behind the mask for the fourth time. I'm sure he'll be receiving his 
honorary Oscar sometime soon.

If one thing's certain, the success or failure of JASON X will help 
determine New Line's decision on whether to greenlight the long-rumored 
FREDDY VS. JASON project. Boy, my head is just spinning with thoughts of all 
that can go wrong with that one. Can it possibly avoid sucking? Well, if it 
turns out to be a turd, let's just hope it knows how to wink.

Michael B. Scrutchin
Flipside Movie Emporium
http://www.flipsidemovies.com

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X-RAMR-ID: 31683
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 310186
X-RT-TitleID: 1113860
X-RT-SourceID: 190
X-RT-AuthorID: 4496
X-RT-RatingText: B-