Robert Longo’s “Johnny Mnemonic” (1995) was thought-about an outright catastrophe upon its summer time of 1995 launch.
Now, it’s one thing of a cult favourite, not solely as a result of its new black and white model is most popular amongst its fanbase however as a result of it has one more Keanu Reeves efficiency that has aged much better than anticipated.
That’s to not say the film is nice, solely that the leisure worth and an appreciation of Reeves’ most notorious scene (I’ll get to that shortly), have elevated over time.
Reeves is so robotic because the title character, it comes as a shock after we study he isn’t enjoying a robotic or android. Johnny is a high-tech courier in a futuristic world of 2021 the place, moderately than ship one thing through e-mail on the web (ideas the movie appears conscious of however doesn’t totally broach), he inserts data into his mind, which serves as a tough drive.
What occurs to all the opposite recollections he holds? Johnny helpfully explains to us, “I needed to dump a big chunk of long-term reminiscence … my childhood.”
When Johnny is given an particularly useful piece of knowledge, hit males are despatched to decapitate him. All of that is accompanied by a cool soundtrack by artists like Stabbing Westward, Bono and the Edge, Buckethead and Orbital, although the songs are higher heard on the soundtrack than the barely-there means they float via the film.
Longtime readers understand how a lot I like Reeves, however his efficiency right here isn’t nice, to place it properly. The movie itself is a missed alternative however a captivating one. It’s a uncommon case of cyber-genius creator William Gibson translating his imaginative and prescient to the large display.
Regardless of Gibson authoring the screenplay (primarily based on considered one of his tales), acclaimed artist Longo directing and sporting a most uncommon solid, “Johnny Mnemonic” stays a captivating, visually arresting and fatally goofy failure.
Reeves is usually very humorous as Johnny, often on objective, however principally as a result of his amusingly picket performing and the foolish dialog mix to make an ideal storm of an enjoyably unhealthy efficiency.
Within the 1995 movie Johnny Mnemonic, the eponymous character (Keanu Reeves) was a knowledge courier with a mind implant that might maintain 80GB of information.
A couple of days again, I picked up this Lexar 512GB JumpDrive for $39.95 and didn’t must sacrifice my childhood recollections like Johnny did. pic.twitter.com/vkzu5LAA9l
— Clayton Hove (@adtothebone) February 18, 2024
The pc graphic imagery nonetheless seems cool, whether or not it’s Johnny conducting a hack with VR headgear and what seems like a Nintendo Energy Glove, or the all-out, “TRON”-like end. Despite the fact that this was made within the age of CD-ROMs, and “the web” was nonetheless in its infancy (however is referenced sufficient to recommend Gibson’s understanding of its potential), it’s enjoyable to see the 1995 cyber punk concept of 2021 expertise.
As if the camp worth wasn’t already intact, there’s Dolph Lundgren’s efficiency as The Preacher, an extended haired murderer who spouts religious-themed one-liners the way in which Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze is filled with “ice” puns in “Batman & Robin” (1997).
This got here out the identical yr as “The Internet” and “Hackers,” all of which paint a distinctly ’90s imaginative and prescient of pc hacking and techno consciousness as dated as a dusty previous copy of Wired Journal. Gibson’s prophetic warnings of “data overload” are intriguing however don’t totally come throughout.
Takeshi Kitano has a supporting position as a charismatic murderer; Kitano’s half was a lot larger within the movie’s longer abroad launch and is partially restored within the newer, most popular model. Even with a solid that features Dina Meyer (who reveals actual film star presence), Udo Kier, Ice-T (trying as foolish right here as he was in “Tank Lady” the identical yr) and Henry Rollins, that is much less playfully quirky than conceptually messy.
Take away the star energy and flashy results, and it’s as grungy and under-lit as these Eighties Golan/Globus sci-fi productions from Cannon Movies.
Longo clearly will get the worth of textured artwork route however aiming for Terry Gilliam visuals doesn’t work if there isn’t a human middle on the core. The pc graphics are each bit as hyper-stylized and cool-looking as these in “The Lawnmower Man” (1992) and “Disclosure” (1994) and supply a brief distraction from how unhealthy the movie is.
But, it’s laborious to withstand a film with a mystical, hardwired dolphin, a literal “ghost within the machine” and Reeves’ immortal “I Need Room Service” monolog. The latter was reportedly because of Reeves having had simply performed Hamlet (in an acclaimed efficiency on the Canadian stage) and wanting a beefy little bit of dialog.
I’m glad the Bard impressed Reeves, as his late-in-the-movie bit about wanting a “$10,000.00 an evening hooker” is funnier than most of his performances in precise comedies.
An audacious cult favourite, JOHNNY MNEMONIC (1995)—starring Keanu Reeves—is a curler coaster of motion and high-impact imagery.
As a part of our AI assortment, we’re presenting the Unique Streaming Premiere of a black-and-white model of the movie. https://t.co/KbIup3Er45 pic.twitter.com/MOoULIJuxe
— Criterion Channel (@criterionchannl) July 3, 2023
Unhealthy motion pictures will be enjoyable, as this one most undoubtedly is. Reeves had no luck with this prompt field workplace flop, nor enjoying one other John (Jonathan Harker) in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992), the place he was the weak hyperlink in an in any other case good movie.
Reeves’ efficiency as John Constantine in 2005 was, likewise, not broadly liked till the movie developed a greater repute a decade or so later. The actor come across a winner with “John Wick” (2014).
I’d additionally argue that his all-time finest efficiency enjoying a “Johny” will be present in “Level Break” (1991), the place he performs Johnny Utah. If this looks like a foolish factor to ponder, simply strive watching “Johnny Mnemonic,” with its speaking dolphin and Lundgren-gone-wild.
I’ve at hand it to Reeves – his finest motion pictures are genuinely terrific, whereas his unhealthy ones, in hindsight, are proving to be extra enjoyable than anticipated.
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