Some really disappointing movies...
- The Matrix
- Existenz
- Pi
- Twelve Monkeys
- Strange Days
- The Skulls
- Mulholland Falls
- Johnny Mnemonic
the matrix: Seen as an Easter treat, a "I've *got* to see this, and I'm *not* going to watch a chick flick, so why not?" Enormous mistake. First, I'm getting kind of tired of the "one plot" theory of cyberpunk, where everything is reduced to a young hero (and a tough-yet-secretly vulnerable girl) vs. The Government/Rich People/Machines. Secondly, the political correctness got to me: Good Guys are people of color (or women)/wear torn knitware/eat goo/have a "spiritual" leaning, Bad Guys are white, wear black tailored suits, and drink/smoke/eat steak, kind of like the sort of preaching that goes on in Whole Math textbooks. Third, when it got to the point where cliches were piling on cliches, I left.
Existenz: Also a "geek-must-see" movie, as was Pi. Basic problem: it's a movie about video games by someone who obviously doesn't play them, doesn't like them, and didn't feel it worth the trouble to do his homework. So, instead of getting the kind of slick mindrape that Videodrome was, we get...boredom. Videogamers of the future have their games plugged into their spines by an "umbie cord" -- I suppose this is supposed to make me feel guilty about pumping quarters into Pac-Man instead of having fulfilling human relationships. The gore is so damn pervasive it's boring: everything looks organic and messy, from the videogame factory to the dish at the Chinese restaurant. Jennifer Jason Leigh purrs every single line sexily, with the same effect as an overly gay waiter: yes, we've got the idea, lady, what are we supposed to do about it? And then there is the laughably lame McGuffin: there's only one copy of the Wonder Program, no one made any backups.
PI: see elsewhere.
12 Monkeys: I liked Jump-Cut better. Giving it color, animation, and a big budget doesn't do anything more than muddy a perfectly good idea.
Strange Days: A rap singer dies on the eve of Y2K. Police bungle the investigation. It gets cleared up. I'd probably have liked it if my date hadn't insisted on saying that it would have been better if the had blacks rioted, bringing Western Civ down around everyone's ears in a cleansing catharsis. Like most New Years', the hangover wouldn't have been worth the binge.
The Skulls: Unscary movie with the probing social insight of "Titanic": rich WASP men are violent, evil, tyrants, slightly amoral young Irishmen are actually the salt of the Earth. Purports to show "Y" University's secret society -- is about as secretive as a billboard. Yawn.
Mulholland Falls: Overlong,preachy, and muddled. John Malkovich (as an Oppenheimer-like scientist) provides the one ray of light.
Johnny Mnemonic:One really good moment-- getting a zillion bytes in your brain. The rest of it looked and felt stuck in the mid-80's. Molly Millions (the original dark-haired ninja chick with implanted sunglasses) is here a vulnerable blond bimbo. Wish I'd stayed home.
I Finally saw The Matrix . . . I liked it, although I did find it mildly disappointing (probably because of the hype). While I too get sick of the generic cyberpunk plot, I can't think of another movie that has done it better (cyberpunk, that is). Maybe Dark City? Does it count as cyberpunk? Anyway, visually I thought it was terrific. Good action sequences (although overdone at times - e.g. "how we going to get him out of there? let's shoot our way in!" (not an actual quote, but you get the idea)). And the white-guys-as-bad-guys issue aside, I thought the guy that played the primary Agent was great. Enjoyed the betrayal scene. Liked some of the parallel reality stuff. On the downside, I found some of the plot devices a bit contrived (why did they need a land line to log out? why couldn't Tank just yank them - it was, after all, just a dial-up. probably because they needed the down-to-the-wire chase scenes). And I was hoping for some interesting twist that would allow our hero to prevail, but instead he just eventually "got it". And lordy they gave Laurence Fishburn some awful lines. He did an admirable job with them, though. All in all, I'd say not great, but certainly enjoyable.
I was so disappointed with the Matrix, I posted an arcicle. GREAT SFX, but that was it. Your explanation of a simple plot is the biggest frustration I had.
I can't say I would want to see any of the movies on this list.