JOHNNY MNEMONIC
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 3.7
U.S. Availability: wide release 5/26/95 Running Length: 1:38 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Dina Meyer, Ice-T, Takeshi, Dolph Lundgren Director: Robert Longo Producer: Don Carmody Screenplay: William Gibson based on his story Cinematography: Francois Protat Music: Brad Fiedel U.S. Distributor: TriStar Pictures
JOHNNY MNEMONIC has an interesting premise: it's the second decade of the twenty-first century and information espionage has become so commonplace that human "couriers" are used to transport electronic data. These couriers have implants hardwired into their brains to accommodate uploading and downloading gigabytes, and they get paid handsomely for their services. Meanwhile, the world is in the grip of a mysterious ailment called Nerve Attenuation Syndrome, which threatens half the population with neural seizures.
Unfortunately, once you get beyond this background, the film has little to offer aside from a second-rate cast, a dumb story, and cheesy special effects. Computer-generated visuals a la THE LAWNMOWER MAN aren't nearly as stunning or interesting as director Robert Longo thinks they are. Aside from being relatively easy to create (most theaters use this sort of thing in their self-promotional material), they get dull pretty quickly. Alas, that doesn't prevent Longo from overusing them ad nauseam. Apparently, he spent his entire effects budget on these, because several blue screen shots look embarrassingly fake.
Keanu Reeves, an actor of exceptionally limited scope, plays the title character with about as much wattage as a pen flashlight. Reeves alternates between understated and over-the-top with alarming regularity, creating several unintentionally hilarious moments. As evidence of how poor this performance is, consider that Dolph Lundgren, as a bionic villain, acts circles around Reeves. That's right, I said Dolph Lundgren.
Johnny's head capacity is 80 gigabytes, but he uses a "doubler" to raise it to 160. Nevertheless, on his latest job, a group of scientists have downloaded twice that, leading to a potentially-deadly "leakage" situation--if Johnny doesn't get the information out of his head in 24 hours, his brain will explode. The problem is, a group of yakuza (Japanese mobsters) are after him, because what he's carrying is worth a whole lot of money. So Johnny's on the run through the decaying, futuristic city of Newark, New Jersey, with no download code, and a protector (Dina Meyer) who's only sticking with him until he comes up with the cash to pay her off, or until she falls in love with him (whichever comes first--you guess the answer).
Clearly, JOHNNY MNEMONIC is trying to be a BLADE RUNNER for the '90s, using cyber-space as its playground. The main problem is the script, which is as dumb as action stories get. Just because a film takes place in a futuristic setting doesn't mean that all logic and coherence have to go out the window. Above all, why should we care whether Johnny's head explodes when Reeves' performance fails to spark any empathy for his character? JOHNNY MNEMONIC is brash, flashy, and loud, but it lacks a few key ingredients--namely heart, soul, and intelligence.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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