I Watch Films: Johnny Mnemonic

 

Johnny Mnemonic

In the dystopian future of 2021 Johnny is a data courier, carrying secure data in a chip in his head. Thanks to a doubler he can carry 160 gb; unfortunately the people sending the data have 320 gb. This mean it’s going to leak out and give him brain damage if he’s not careful. He can’t be careful; the hotel room where they’re uploading the data is raided and the images to unlock his memory are damaged.

The world spends a lot of time on the internet, unfortunately this caused Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS). The data is related to a cure, but the corporation that invented it doesn’t want it getting out. So they send various weird bounty hunters after Johnny. Johnny’s handler Ralfi in Newark, New Jersey, betrays him, but Ralfi’s just finished annoying Jane, a cybernetically enhanced muscle for hire, so she rescues Johnny and takes him to the Lo-Teks, who have a base on top of a broken bridge.

Adapted from the William Gibson short story by Gibson, the stripped down cyberpunk chase is turned into a fairly standard dystopian thriller. There’s a few fun visuals. The film is a bit confused, Johnny doesn’t want to be involved, he just wants his memories back, or maybe he just wants to rich enough to have room service. Anyway he comes good.

Watch This: Striking visuals, a few good fights
Don’t Watch This: Read the story it’s based on or maybe the later cyberpunk thriller Keanu Reeves starred in