Amazon.com: You might be tempted to call it 'Johnny Moronic' after you've seen this illogical and derivative adaptation of William Gibson's cyberpunk short story (available in his book Burning Chrome), which is all the more depressing since Gibson himself wrote the screenplay. First you have to ask yourself why valuable top-secret electronic data would be stored in the 'wet-wired' brain of a human courier (played by Keanu Reeves), who then transports the data from China to New Jersey as part of his last, most dangerous assignment. Surely there are better ways to transmit sensitive information, but since this is really just a conventional thriller with near-future design and spiffy special effects, Gibson and New York artist Robert Longo (making his directorial debut) are more interested in surface gloss and cyberpunk atmosphere. On that level the movie's fairly engaging, and Japanese film star Takeshi Kitano makes a pretty good villain, tracking Reeves down for the information in his data-packed brain. The movie also boasts an eclectic gallery of supporting players including rapper Ice-T, performance artist and rocker Henry Rollins, beefcake actor Dolph Lundgren, and transcontinental oddball Udo Kier. They can't stop this trip through virtual reality from being botched up, but sci-fi fans will certainly enjoy the echo of Gibson's fiction that remains on the screen. --Jeff Shannon
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Rating: - Beyond Corporate Control
A fascinating film that brings together several genres and also several influences. First the technical level of virtual reality and computerized graphics. Interesting though not exceptionally original (see for one example The Lawnmower Man). Second the Japanese, Chinese, Honk Kong, Kung Fu type of action. There it is in a way renewed because it is grafted onto, into or under another type of post-apocalyptic vision that is typically American: underground resistance (with one of the archetypes being the Terminator trilogy, or The Running Man) or people who refuse the modern slavery imposed by the corporate trust that governs and controls the world, through dependence on data-processing machines that create a nervous disorder that is both incurable and catching. The models of this underground vision are numerous. Here he sets it in the guts of an old decaying bridge, so over-ground and over-water, in between two banks ... Read More
Rating: - The Future Looks Disappointing...
The fact that Keanu Reeves' success in the "Matrix" trilogy has eclipsed all past missteps in his career surely makes bearing the burden of having starred in "Johnny Mnemonic" easier for him...but even now, there's no denying that it's one really silly movie.
This failed "cyberpunk" thriller tells the tale of a "mnemonic carrier" - a man with the ability to hold encrypted digital data inside of his head (Reeves) - being hunted down for carrying a particularly touchy bit of information inside of his mind; running from an evil corporation, the Yakuza, and a delusional and deadly preacher (Dolph Lundgren, "Universal Soldier") in a drug-laced dystopian future, he hooks up with a beautiful bodyguard Jane (Dina Meyer, "The Movie Hero") and the two of them begin a race against time to extract the information from his head.
My most immediate beef with the film is that Keanu Reeves cannot act in it to ... Read More
Rating: - avoid like plague
I was quite excited about an adaptation of one of Gibson's works, but in retrospect, I wish I never saw this movie. It actually put such a bad taste in my mouth that I've stopped following Gibson's written works.
Two Comments:
Keanu is a HORRIBLE actor in this film. It's been years, but I still can't forget him standing on a pile of junk and complaining about how he misses his expensive suits and prostitutes. So bad.
The Director is HORRIBLE. Seriously, I could have put this film together better.
Rating: - Future shocked at how ridiculous
I really enjoy Keanu Reeves in everything he does, but this one is crazy. The story's ridiculous and it's played too seriously to be good. Ice-T is cool as usual and you won't even recognize Dolph Lundgren. Oh well, can't all be hits.
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- Beyond Corporate Control
- The Future Looks Disappointing...
- avoid like plague
