Johnny Mnemonic (1995) HD Digital UK Release Review
In the 21st century the information superhighway has developed so far that cyberspace is the norm for all business and personal dealings. Information has become so important that to shield the most delicate files from cyberspace hackers, the data is transported in the heads of Mnemonic couriers. Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is the best of the bunch, but this time the raw data he carries is so sensitive that he is being pursued by many interested parties, and his failure to deliver the information will hand him the ultimate lateness penalty.
Cyberpunk action thriller JOHNNY MNEMONIC was originally intended as a small-budget art-house flick however it failed to find financing but oddly went on to receive more money when pitched as a Hollywood mainstream release. Given the film’s subject matter it’s no surprise to know that the film’s distributor Sony used the Internet to market the film, something that doesn’t seem that radical nowadays, given everything is done that way, but at the time it was.
For his feature-film debut artist-turned-director Robert Longo worked from a screenplay by William Gibson, based on his short story of the same name, only to see his original cut butchered by the American distribution just a month before its release. The distributor’s cut arguably destroyed the film’s chances at the all-important American box-office – it did, it bombed – however intentionally it fared slightly better despite being universally panned by the critics.
It could be reasoned that until THE MATRIX reinvented cinema in 1999 that audiences didn’t really care for flicks that were based on technology. Admittedly the earlier LAWNMOWER MAN was a hit but later, superior fare such as STRANGE DAYS and CYPHER failed to connect with a wider audience. There is a longer version of JOHNNY MNEMONIC (103 mins) which is closer to the director’s cut that features a different score and editing, with additional scenes that focus mainly on Takeshi Kitano’s character Takahashi but unfortunately that this not the version that’s been made available to watch for this Anniversary release.
What we’re stuck with is the studio cut that starts well but soon becomes unbearably dull despite an eclectic cast that includes Keanu Reeves, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, Dina Meyer and Henry Rollins. Also, unfortunately, the film’s lead Reeves is out of his depth here, he’s so much better when he’s in his signature role of Ted “Theodore” Logan in the BILL & TED movies or left with little or no dialogue such as in action flicks like the original SPEED flick or THE MATRIX franchise. In short JOHNNY MNEMONIC is a failure that was dead-on-arrival and remains a stiff twenty-five years later.
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