Subject: REVIEW: JOHNNY MNEMONIC

From: [email-masked] (T. Robin Sutherland)
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 1995 15:33:50 GMT

JOHNNY MNEMONIC
		       A film review by T. Robin Sutherland
			Copyright 1995 T. Robin Sutherland

     On the up side, this was a fun way to spend the afternoon.  A
futuristic action movie with lots of whiz-bang special effects, a
decent soundtrack, and not a few interesting shots and stunts.

     But this will not be one of the science fiction films we look back
on and say "this was a pivotal moment in cinema."  In fact, it seems to
me that somewhere along the line, the society which Gibson & Co. have
helped to fashion with their ideograms of cybericity has caught up and
now dictates to that work.  Too bad.  It would have been nice to seen a
screenplay--so extensively modified from the original short story--take
advantage of the transformation to continue to challenge its audience.
Johnny Neumonic does not do this.  It doesn't come close.  Instead, it
panders to the pop hysteria surrounding the Internet, hacker culture,
and the glitz and glamour which has become associated (ironically) with
the "power (computer) user."

     Worse--it is as shallow a movie as that same pop hysteria.

     I dunno.  Maybe I was expecting too much when I found out that
Gibbie was doing the screenplay.  Maybe the cult following which has
been cyberpunk is so much a part of our culture now is just too much to
challenge.  But I don't think so.  It just all smells of a Hollywood
which is much more concerned with flash and bucks than making a good
film.

     Acting?  C'mon--this is sci-fi.  We don't get much of the talent.
Just watch the guys on DS9, B5, or SeaQuest.  I hear they're remaking
DEMOLITION MAN this year as DREDD.  Keanu's prowess as an actor has
never been in question as far as I've been aware, but the guy does have
something besides a 1995 face, which I think I finally have figured
out.  He's Arnie for Generation X.  And Gen-X doesn't use one-liners;
they just let their phases hang there without any meaning.  Done
effectively, this will leave you going "What-?" and KR pulls this off
from time to time.

     But a lot of the scripting was just plain dumb.  Much of it felt
like ninja turtle fare.  Two shots I immediately saw James Bond in.
Lines like "You will regret this," "It's time to let your daughter
die," and "You need to rest," come off as trite and cliche as they are,
and there is finally no way to take anyone seriously.  Reeves' forced
intensity drives the whole thing, along with fairly quickly paced
shooting sequences of fights, special effects, and loud music.

     As for the story itself--the twins are still there, as is the
dolphin and a guy named Ralphie (and a familiar bartender with a
mechanical arm), but even Molly is gone, replaced with a Jane who's
good in a fight, but has none of Molly's cyber-novelty.  Many layers of
story have been added, most of them pointless, some of them seeming to
have the Gibson hint of obscure metaphor, but all drowned in a diatribe
against dependence on the machine.

     Despite all of that, it is fun to watch if you like mind candy and
are not set up for a parable of our times.  Gibson fans will go in
droves and all of them will either be dazzled or disappointed.  And on
the upside once again, this was a short story.  No one seems to have
been stupid enough to go for the mother lode, yet.  If anyone has any
brains, they'll do one or two more short stories first.

     I read an interview in WIRED with Gibson and Robert Longo, which
said that this was originally designed to be a $1.5 million "artsy"
movie, and then went to $30 million budget.  I really wish now that I
could have a chance to see the former.

--------------------
T. Robin Sutherland
Sharon L. Sutherland
http://www.interlog.com/~robin/rant/movies/movies.html