HACKERS
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1995 Christopher Null
HACKERS is more techno-paranoia from Hollywood, instilling the fear of rampaging computer geeks into America once again in yet another take on 1983's WARGAMES. Twelve years later, the game is a little different: the bad guys are big business types instead of the government, the good guys have dreadlocks and multiple body piercings, and the computers can do full motion video over a phone line.
Okay, so some liberties have been taken with technology (an Intel P6 chip powers an Apple PowerBook), but at least the terminology the hackers use is essentially right. The story may sound familiar. Bad corporate computer dude Eugene aka Plague (Fisher Stevens) and his accomplice (Lorraine Bracco) team up for a little multi-million dollar theft, when a bunch of young punks stumble upon the plan. The gaggle of teen-aged of hackers includes Dade aka Crash Override (Jonny Lee Miller), Kate aka Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), and the show-stealing Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), among others. Together, the hackers have to foil the theft and avoid having numerous felony charges pinned on them, plus save the world from ecological disaster thanks to a Plague-written virus that capsizes oil tankers.
Whatever. The plot is pretty silly, thanks in part to the combined efforts of the ridiculous Stevens-Bracco combination, who you just can't stop laughing at. And of course, the premise is absurd, placing technology we probably won't see for another 15 years in the hands of kids. Every hacker worth his salt knows that it just isn't that easy to crack systems. At least Matthew Broderick had to resort to a lot of research.
But this is all beside the point, because the film is actually worthwhile. The real draw to HACKERS is that it is so unexpectedly *funny.* Really funny. The comic scenes with the kids (and there are lots of them) are totally hilarious. The "serious" scenes are too, because they are often so ridiculous. Watching the woefully miscast Bracco trying to pull off her role as "the sultry executive accessory to the crime" is worth the cost of admission alone.
In the end, seeing HACKERS is a lot like watching MTV for two hours. There's not a lot under the surface, the music is fast and loud, the camera shakes around a lot, but it's really colorful and generally fun.
RATING: ***
+-------------------------------+ |* Unquestionably awful | |** Sub-par on many levels | |*** Average, hits and misses | |**** Good, memorable film | |***** Perfection | +-------------------------------+
-Christopher Null / null@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu -Screenwriter & Novelist -Contributing Editor, Mike's FEEDBACK / Film Critic, Texas Business Weekly -[R]eply to be added to movie review mailing list
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