It's the year 2021, and the whole world is suffering from the Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS). Johnny Mnemonic (Keanu Reeves) has an implanted memory chip, and much of his memory erased to create space to store computer data. He's been hired to transport important data while trying to escape from the Yakuza. On his journey, he's helped by bio-engineered muscle Jane (Dina Meyer),and anti-government group led by J-Bone (Ice-T).

The similarities to The Matrix is astounding. I'm not saying there's any copying, but I'm sure the Wachowski brothers had a lot of this in mind when they cast Keanu Reeves. He's basically playing the same cool emotionless hero. There are guys in black trench coats. They're dealing a lot of issues with computers. There is a lot of Asian motif. In the end, they are not really the same. I like to call this the trial run for the Matrix. You can see some of the problems. The budget isn't big enough. The real effects are too clunky. The computer FX and graphics would vastly improve in the Matrix. Overall there are all kinds of ideas in this movie that a real world setting just won't do it justice. The story is simple enough. It's a quest and a road story. There are good guys and bad guys. What this movie really need is a better visual effects department.

In terms of creating the futuristic society of 2021, JOHNNY MNEMONIC is pretty good. A combination of complex sets, computer graphics, and some bizarrely-dressed extras make up a grungy and dirty universe of pollution, disease and violent death. Not exactly an original idea, but at least some of writer William Gibson's influence wears off and the film has a realistic setting for once. What a shame, then, that as a thriller, JOHNNY MNEMONIC is so flat. The interesting, original concept of data transference via the human brain is used only as an excuse for some flashy computer graphics - dated already in the seven years since the film first came out - and some techno-babble which sounds cool but has no meaning. Instead the film becomes a series of poorly put-together action sequences which are badly-edited and lacking in excitement. I never thought a film in which a guy wields and decapitates people with an electric whip would be boring, but it is, for the most part.

The film has loads of characters and none of them are really developed, other than being "allies" or "enemies". There's some weak comic relief and some bad emoting and acting from Keanu Reeves but otherwise no attempt is made to examine the various characters or their motivations. Take Ice-T's man of mystery, for instance; what do we learn about this badly-dressed citizen of the future? Nothing, other than he's a resistance fighter or something like that. Of course one of the film's biggest flaws is in the central casting of Reeves as a desperate hero; this is at the opposite end of the movie quality spectrum from THE MATRIX and about a tenth as entertaining. Reeves is wooden, wooden, wooden, and quite pathetic at times. His supporting players don't help, either; seemingly a cast of well-established talents, from all areas of the field, were brought together for this movie and then utterly wasted in rubbish parts.

Dina Meyer (STARSHIP TROOPERS) should be sassy, agile and sexy as the female sidekick, but she just appears dull and self-centred. Similarly Takeshi Kitano exudes menace and evilness just from his face alone but his villain is a weak, rather stupid man who gets betrayed by an obvious enemy. Even good old Udo Kier appears in a stupid comic/dramatic role as "Ralfi", but is again wasted in what amounts to little more than a cameo. That leaves Dolph Lundgren in one of his most bizarre turns as the 'Street Preacher' a hired killer who spends the latter half of the movie tracking Keanu Reeves down and attempting to kill him. After his villainous turn in UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (which made the film, as far as I'm concerned),it goes without saying that Lundgren can be menacing and nasty with the best of them, but he has little to do here, gets stupid dialogue, and isn't nasty enough. JOHNNY MNEMONIC is an often visually interesting film to watch but lacks excitement, intelligence or originality in it's oh-so-predictable chase thriller storyline.

Usually when you watch a sci-fi film, the first half usually piques your interest only to sink into a confusing and badly written second half ("Star Trek V" comes to mind.). "Johnny Mnemonic" has the unique distinction of having a rather bad first half being saved by the second half. There were moments of badly delivered lines and situations, which I fully blame the director for. There were cuts where the demeanor of Keanu Reeves changed confusingly. Again I blame the director and continuity supervisor. There was, IMHO, more gore than necessary. But that's a matter of taste. And, to make matters worse, I wasn't sure of what I was watching.

There was a LOT of good things about the movie. It told a sci-fi story about a dark and bleak future....somewhat similar to "Blade Runner". And it did it well. There were an amazing amount of sets, extras, and really well done computer effects. There was even one really well filmed shot in a hospital that reminded me of the long scene from "Gone With The Wind" showing the dead and dying in the Atlanta train yard. Many of the secondary actors (especially Henry Rollins as "Spider" and Ice-T as "J-Bone") were surprisingly good and helped to raise my rating of the film from an initial 4.0 to an overall 7.0 rating.

If you aren't into a lot of foul language and/or gore, I'd steer clear of this film. But if you want to see a surprisingly well made piece of dark sci-fi, this is a film worth giving a chance to watch.