The New York Times, and many viewers in general, lament that the delivery by Keanu Reeves tends to make him appear less human in his portrayal of Johnny. Problematic to say the least, the distraction completely removes the interesting character that was the original Johnny.
The "hollywoodisation" of the story seriously detracted from its original intentent, even more so than robot-boy Reeves. Ebert couldn't even take the movie seriously, insisting that instead of a story, it was just a mish mash of scenes from "the old movie shelf". Characters are wholly adjusted or removed (Mollie anyone?), and the plot adjusted to follow the "Point a to b" that Ebert mentions.
It's unfortunate that the supporting characters are just as problematic as Johnny. Mollie had some potential to give more depth to the types of implants, and the strangeness that is her profession (body guard that actively recruits clients?). Christopher Null makes the same assertion, that the characters seem "plastic- and lifeless". His short article was more of a review, however used here as a reminder that even as a hollywood movie, it did not seem to deliver quite what was expected.
Not everyone despises this movie, myself included. It has its moments, and the environment is interesting and the ideas still a representation of cyberpunk. The focus of information and its acquisition and importance is strongly present in the movie.Jussi Parikka in her posting to this journal makes the point,
This theme can be deciphered also as a general cinematic pattern in cyberpunk-narratives such as Johnny Mnemonic where of course the movie revolves around transportation of data but also the whole narrative is based around movement of looking for someone, meeting new people – a complex system of networks.
So as information is the focus in the cyberpunk genre, the same is true in this movie. But I believe that to be more in spite of the director and studio, rather than as a compliment to them. The cheesy additions to the story do nothing to actually add to it, just as the acting detracted from it. The "hollywoodisation" removed many of the interesting story elements and ideas that I liked most (leaving them out to keep this brief!).
Anyway, I leave this blog post with this. Johnny Mnemonic very well could have been quite good, awesome even. The original story was dark, but with a sense of adventure about it. It had it's drama, and action. The movie version attempted to artificially add these elements, and that's exactly how it came out.
Artificial.
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