Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

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 Amazon.com

 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.

April 27, 2008

 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. February 8, 2008

 great deal on a not so great movie
this movie is awesomely bad, i mean who fights a dolphin other than the bad guys in flipper? really. January 20, 2008

 I like it.
I like this movie. It's got plot, good characterization and style as well has high production values. It's the movie where Ted "Theodore" Logan got to prove he had the chops to play Neo in The Matrix. There is a kind of over-the-top intensity to the movie that makes up for the lack of comic relief throughout.

It's a first class science-fiction caper that remains true to the world it creates. January 2, 2008

 Oh, William Gibson, you are better than this!
In the future of "Johnny Mnemonic," couriers with chips implanted in their brains must smuggle their gigabytes past the shady underworld of the ever-present Yakusa and the "low-tech" rebel groups bent on destroying technology. Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is one such courier, desperate to end his career so he can reclaim the memories he has had to sacrifice. He agrees to one last mission, one that threatens to kill him, both from those who want the information and from the information itself seeping into his nervous system. Everyone wants his head - literally.

It has been said that Keanu Reeves cannot act, and this film is indisputable proof of that. He has two expressions: dumb and angry. Sometimes he goes from one "emotion" to the other in a split second. In Reeves's defense, however, the script gives him little to work with. His character is one-dimensional - he wants his memory back, but never badly enough to drive him. Even worse, he is surrounded by vague supporting characters: a former bodyguard suffering from an ill-defined syndrome that seems to affect a large percentage of the population; a rebel leader (Ice-T) who does little more than spout one-line pronouncements; a corporate executive who lost his only daughter to the same disease afflicting the bodyguard; and a Yakusa boss with no definition whatsoever. Why is there a rebel group? Why does information have to be regularly smuggled? Why is Johnny's chip government-approved, even though he seems to have no connection to officials? These questions are never answered, or even hinted at.

William Gibson, the father of cyberpunk, wrote the screenplay based on one of his short stories. Perhaps because of the originally shorter length, the film is sketchy, stretched by Tron-like images (Tron (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition)) and an apocalyptic world reminiscent of Mad Max (Special Edition). William Gibson should stick to writing novels, as he seems unsure of how to develop this very different medium.

I don't recommend this film, not even for Keanu Reeves fans. January 1, 2008

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