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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 bookBurning 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
*bluuuurch* The only movie I have almost walked out on. And I paid to see Wild Orchid II. What stopped me? Well a guy getting filleted in half with a laser rope. What made me realize that even THAT shouldn't have kept me in the theatre? Mankind's savior is not Ted Theodore Logan, esq. Nope. It is a dolphin. A rubber dolphin. In a fish tank. With a hat on. I wish I could have vomited on command! C'mon people!
Great in Superbit I first saw this in the regular pan and Scan VHS version. Totally loved the film even in that format. Even then, the Combination of Keanu, some hyped techno gadgetry, lots of wild adventure, with some surreal slice and dice scenes, made for a very watchable film.
The extras are non-existent; the payoff for this version of the film is the audio quality, and what is the most amazing digital screens. Anything in Superbit is just briliant in visual, and an auditory sense.
I would warrant that some people will definitely, as has been stated, make this film a no go based on Keanu's presence. But still, he is an A list star because of his box office appeal, and this has to mean that a bunch of people enjoy his films, it is just that these people do not write reviews ( mostly :-).
The "wet-wired" courier is obviously an illegal job, since when scanned in one scene, the implant comes up as a medical insert. In part it sounds like someone read a bit of Neuro-Linguistic programming before doing the script, and this feeds the data transfer concepts, as well as the problems associated with an overload. The conspiracy elements mount up within the organization that seems to own everything, and the spirit that is planted in the machine as a Neural network form becomes more of a super Conscious for the Head of the Corporation who eventually takes a first hand role in the inevitable ethical disposal of the information that can rid humanity of the black shakes ( a disorder, not a Gothic Slurpee :-). As is the case with most Keanu films, the support cast is totally stellar, and does its job in an awesome way.
The FX, the story, the raging fun, the rampant corporate conspiracy all make for a great film.
ENJOYWidescreen/Full Screen Warning As another review pointed out, this version (ASIN/ISBN#0767802454) offers no Widescreen version of this movie. The box clearly says "Side A is a Widescreen version and preserves the original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio. Side B is a Full Frame/Standard version and is re-formatted to fit your TV." One Problem; ASIN/ISBN#0767802454 is a single sided disk.
The other production run of this movie on DVD is ASIN/ISBN#0767802462, and may include a Widescreen version. I can't verify that because it is out of print.
