After cryogenically freezing Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) in the year 2001--as those responsible determined this was the only plausible way to stop the killer--he spends years frozen and out of commission. Jason X then picks up in the year 2455, aboard a space station, where Jason is thawed and brought back to life. The world has changed drastically. From technology to humanity itself, nothing is like when Jason first haunted camp counselors, nothing except for his murderous ways. Now, trapped in the space station with a four hundred plus year old killer, the crew must find a way to stop him again.
There is a general understanding of who and what Jasonn Voorhees is. Jason is a somewhat sadistic serial killer who hunts teenagers (specifically camp counselors) because of his untimely death as an eleven year old boy. He isn’t superhuman, he does not have special abilities that allow him to survive most attempts to end his life and he does not kill for the fun of it (but to avenge his own death). There is a specific type of person that Jason targets: those “making love,” those doing drugs and those neglecting their assigned duties. While people can obviously progress over time, one of the things people have fallen in love with since Jason’s inception in the early 1980’s is the fact that he is predictable and, in some ways, relatable. Audiences are able to appreciate that Jason has a purpose and that he rarely, unless forced to do so, veers from his path of murder and destruction.
Jason X throws out the preconceived notions of Jason and completely flips the script. He no longer has a specific type of person in which he hunts, he is willing to kill anyone he comes in contact with, threat or not. For the first time it seems that Jason not only kills because he feels it’s necessary, but also because he enjoys it to some degree.
It is possible that if audiences have never seen any of the other Friday the 13th entities, they might appreciate what takes place in Jason X. I would imagine, however, that anyone willing to sit for an hour and a half and attempt to watch this film must have seen other films related to Jason Voorhees in the past. Having seen just one other Friday the 13th film is enough to plant a seed that explains to audiences what they should expect from Jason. Completely revamping the idea of Jason is a travesty, and there is no looking past the sins of Sean S. Cunningham and company after watching this film.
There is something thrilling about the poor acting, but the attempt made by writer Todd Farmer and director Jim Isaac to make the characters dumber than ever is ridiculous. Jason X is riddled with unsuccessful one liners. Characters make jokes about others’ and their own demise, making the often meaningful murders of Jason nearly emotionless. I struggle to comprehend how Cunningham, the man who got the franchise started, believed that Jason X would find success like earlier installments did.
Jason X takes the Friday the 13th franchise in unprecedented directions, and, while that seems like it could potentially pay off, nearly everything present in the film all but tarnishes the brilliant past of the Voorhees saga. Everything the franchise had worked toward and all of the hard work that countless individuals put into developing Jason’s character and the franchise as a whole is essentially turned into a joke. I am appalled at what New Line Cinema does to the character and the story, and I am simply a casual fan. I can only imagine the displeasure hardcore fans feel when watching or even thinking about this film.
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