Dax Shepard Weekend – Idiocracy (2006)

By Newguy

Director: Mike Judge

Writer: Mike Judge, Etan Cohen (Screenplay) Mike Judge (Story)

Starring: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, Anthony Campos, David Herman, Justin Long

Plot: Private Joe Bauers, the definition of “average American”, is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes five centuries in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed down that he’s easily the most intelligent person alive.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Future Film

Story: Idiocracy starts by showing how the dumber population is overrunning the world while the educated people are struggling to reproduce. We meet the average Private Joe Bauers (Wilson) who gets reassigned from the military library to be part of the human hibernation program along with prostitute Rita (Rudolph). When the program gets shut down Joe and Rita get forgotten, the world descends into stupidity.

Joe wakes in the year 2505 where everyone thinks he is different, because they have been overcome with stupidity, he is treated like a criminal before he decides to use his own intelligence to outsmart the locals while working with Frito (Shepard). When the IQ results come back to prove Joe is the smartest person alive President Camacho (Crews) brings him into his cabinet, but now Joe must save the future while trying to find a way home.

Idiocracy is a film unlike most we have seen, we have all seen film after film that looked at the future of humans with a person from the past not understanding the new look world. This time we get that but instead of everything being all modernised we get to see how the world has no brains anymore. This is a huge plus because it shows how it could be another future for the Earth to face. I do think this is too much of a level of stupidity though. I do think this has good comedy used throughout to shows how certain ideas could cause problems in the future.

Actor Review

Luke Wilson: Joe Bauers is the typical average soldier who has been getting through the days easily, he gets selected for a secret project he ends up stuck in the future where he is the smartest person alive, but no one wants to believe anything he has to say even after they turn to team him to solve the world’s problems. Luke gives us a good performance in this role where he clearly looks lost like his character is meant to be.

Maya Rudolph: Rita is a prostitute that gets assigned to the experiment and stuck in the future too, she has to work with Joe to prove they can save the world. Maya gives us a good performance in the supporting role.

Dax Shepard: Frito is the idiot lawyer that has to represent Joe, he helps Joe after getting the promise of billions of dollars. Dax gives us a good performance showing a different style of comedy than we are used to seeing.

Terry Crews: President Camacho runs the country like a giant party and turns to Joe to solve all the problems, the country loves him and for once America isn’t against each other for once. Terry gives a good comical performance but doesn’t get the screen time I would have liked.

Support Cast: Idiocracy has a good comical supporting cast that each have a few laughs when needed.

Director Review: Mike JudgeMike brings us a good look at a different future that has a good comical level being used.

Adventure: Idiocracy has good adventure which is more of a reluctant adventure than a planned one.

Comedy: Idiocracy has good comedy moments being used throughout the film to show how bad the intelligence levels have ended up going.

Sci-Fi: Idiocracy shows a bleak future where people are happy enough but they are flat out stupid.

Settings: Idiocracy creates a future that is built for laughs rather than realism.
Special Effects
: Idiocracy does have a weak point and that is the computer effects added to the world.

Suggestion: Idiocracy is one to try, I do think if you want a comedy slightly outside the box this will work for you. (Try It)

Best Part: The future.

Worst Part: Bit short.

Funniest Scene: Doctor

Believability: No

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: Yes

Oscar Chances: No

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

Tagline: In the future, intelligence is extinct.

Overall: Fun look at a worrying future

Rating