Johnny MnemonicThe safest place to store a secret may be within your head, but never underestimate the lengths to which people will go to discover a secret. Johnny Mnemonic is a cyberpunk sci-fi/action movie about a dystopian future where technology has become so hardwired into society, that its very presence has given rise to a technoplague called "nerve attenuation syndrome", or "NAS" for short. Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a black market courier of information, delivering gigabytes of data through his cranial implant for high-profile clients. But Johnny learns that some secrets are just too big to keep to yourself.
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Johnny Mnemonic is adapted from the novel of the same name by acclaimed science-fiction author, William Gibson, who also penned the screenplay. Similar to his other work, it speculates on where society is going with rapid technological advancements--from body prostheses to more sophisticated means of telecommunication. Made in 1995, many of these visions of the future--the year 2021--are closer to reality than others; today it feels more like an alternate universe, where some advancements have flourished and others have faltered. Some discordant examples of future tech include Johnny using a laser pointer on the television set in his Beijing hotel room to dial his underworld contact--the slimy Ralfi (Udo Kier)--and the MiniDisc-based data transfer process, which spins up before injecting the raw data sought by cyber-pharmaceutical conglomerate, Pharmakon, into Johnny's cranium through a headphone socket. Conversely, there has been a resurgence of virtual reality headsets, making Johnny's trips into the "Internet"--depicted as more of a "dark net"--more plausible than a few years ago, even if it is laden with antiquated computer-generated imagery. Johnny Mnemonic is really a futuristic take on a noir story--that one of the movies playing in the Chinese hotel room where he has the data uploaded into his skull features Humphrey Bogart is no coincidence. The secret Johnny has to deliver to the "Free City of Newark" is a MacGuffin that is dangerous enough to kill for, evidenced by the ruthless corporate yakuza enforcer, Shinji (Denis Akiyama), and the deadly laser garrote he wields with vicious efficiency. Johnny accepts Ralfi's job because he wants to buy a superior memory implant, which he hopes will help him reverse a decision he now regrets--to reclaim the memories of his childhood which he sacrificed to become a memory courier in the first place. Johnny learns that the amount of data he is expected to transmit far exceeds his current implant's capacity, yet he makes the attempt anyway, despite the risks of "seepage" that could kill him after a few days; the weight of his secret is literally killing him. Shinji and his goons make matters worse by assassinating the rogue researchers who absconded with the research data from Pharmakon, while claiming two of the three coded images Johnny needs to unlock the data upon delivery. Johnny crosses paths with a cybernetically enhanced bodyguard named Jane (Dina Meyer) after a series of betrayals and tense encounters with Shinji's goons in Newark; she saves him from having his head excised from his body--a brute force method of reclaiming the data, meant to avoid data loss in transition. Johnny learns that Jane is afflicted with NAS, and she is being treated by a benevolent (if terse) street doctor called "Spider" (Henry Rollins); he reveals the existence of a secret liberation movement dedicated to freeing society from the pandemic of NAS--and Johnny is literally holding their secret weapon in his skull.
Like Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic opens with a synopsis that describes a future consumed by technology, where anything natural is only glimpsed in memories; this includes fleeting glimpses from Johnny's past that he recalls after he absorbs the legacy of Pharmakon. Newark is a benighted city filled with slums and rubble, where a secretive gang of anti-establishment rebels called "Lo-Teks"--led by the taciturn J-Bone (Ice-T)--make the wreckage of a long since decommissioned suspension bridge their base of operations. One of Pharmakon's executives, Takahashi (Takeshi Kitano), resents employing the unscrupulous Shinji to pursue Johnny and the secret he carries, but recognizes its profound significance after having recently lost his own daughter to NAS. But the web of deceit and misdirection in this bleak future is so widespread that even Takahashi doesn't comprehend the true nature of Pharmakon. The "ghost" of the corporation's former leader, Anna Kalmann (Barbara Sukowa), desperately tries to maneuver him and Johnny to bring the truth to light. Technology and computers are so entrenched in this future, that it is literally a part of everyday people--from cybernetic limbs to augmentations--and the definition of "human" becomes increasingly blurry. Johnny Mnemonic shares similarities with the films of David Cronenberg--especially Videodrome, due to the ideological and literal war between the unfeeling proponents of cybernetic integration and those who oppose it. Johnny doesn't want to be caught in the crossfire between the corrupt mega-corporations and the scrappy resistance trying to liberate the world. In one supremely frustrated moment, he cries out that all he wants is room service, laundered shirts, and the luxuries of the high life, which is what compelled him to become a black market information courier in the first place. Johnny is confronted by his own conflicted ideals and values; the self-serving motives that necessitated discarding his childhood memories run counter to what he needs to do to have them restored. He is torn; like many people, he desires that goodness and virtue overcomes cynicism and ambivalence, but is hesitant to abandon the comforts of first-world living to help it along.
Recommended for: Fans of a bleak and gritty vision of a world overrun with technology that offers more problems than it fixes--where people like Johnny get sucked into shadow wars waged by corporations and cyberpunk freedom fighters. Johnny Mnemonic recalls other films starring Keanu Reeves that deal with the question of identity in a nightmarish near future, including The Matrix and A Scanner Darkly. Although the special effects show their age, the ideological and psychological themes remain relevant today in our increasingly technologically dependent society.
Like Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic opens with a synopsis that describes a future consumed by technology, where anything natural is only glimpsed in memories; this includes fleeting glimpses from Johnny's past that he recalls after he absorbs the legacy of Pharmakon. Newark is a benighted city filled with slums and rubble, where a secretive gang of anti-establishment rebels called "Lo-Teks"--led by the taciturn J-Bone (Ice-T)--make the wreckage of a long since decommissioned suspension bridge their base of operations. One of Pharmakon's executives, Takahashi (Takeshi Kitano), resents employing the unscrupulous Shinji to pursue Johnny and the secret he carries, but recognizes its profound significance after having recently lost his own daughter to NAS. But the web of deceit and misdirection in this bleak future is so widespread that even Takahashi doesn't comprehend the true nature of Pharmakon. The "ghost" of the corporation's former leader, Anna Kalmann (Barbara Sukowa), desperately tries to maneuver him and Johnny to bring the truth to light. Technology and computers are so entrenched in this future, that it is literally a part of everyday people--from cybernetic limbs to augmentations--and the definition of "human" becomes increasingly blurry. Johnny Mnemonic shares similarities with the films of David Cronenberg--especially Videodrome, due to the ideological and literal war between the unfeeling proponents of cybernetic integration and those who oppose it. Johnny doesn't want to be caught in the crossfire between the corrupt mega-corporations and the scrappy resistance trying to liberate the world. In one supremely frustrated moment, he cries out that all he wants is room service, laundered shirts, and the luxuries of the high life, which is what compelled him to become a black market information courier in the first place. Johnny is confronted by his own conflicted ideals and values; the self-serving motives that necessitated discarding his childhood memories run counter to what he needs to do to have them restored. He is torn; like many people, he desires that goodness and virtue overcomes cynicism and ambivalence, but is hesitant to abandon the comforts of first-world living to help it along.
Recommended for: Fans of a bleak and gritty vision of a world overrun with technology that offers more problems than it fixes--where people like Johnny get sucked into shadow wars waged by corporations and cyberpunk freedom fighters. Johnny Mnemonic recalls other films starring Keanu Reeves that deal with the question of identity in a nightmarish near future, including The Matrix and A Scanner Darkly. Although the special effects show their age, the ideological and psychological themes remain relevant today in our increasingly technologically dependent society.