Johnny Mnemonic
Directed by Robert Longo
- science fiction
- action
- adventure
The story
In a dystopian 2021, Johnny is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits—and will kill him if the data is not removed in time—but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
What it’s like
Grainy, smoky neon over rain-slicked streets, with the sodium-orange and blue-magenta haze of a 2021 that never quite arrived; interiors are cramped and overlit with cold fluorescents, and the cyberspace sequences flash with crude, blocky wireframe graphics and saturated pixel storms. Camera work is restless, with handheld sprints through crowded alleys and tight close-ups on sweating faces, while the score pulses with synth stabs and a driving electronic beat that slips into tinny, nervous quiet between chases. The vibe is sleek, grubby and jittery, a paranoid techno-noir that suits a late-night watch with the lights off or a loud weekend with friends. Pacing is brisk and episodic, the story of a courier who has to outrun both assassins and his own failing body, so the emotional arc stays on a single nervous track: a self-reliant loner forced into reluctant alliances. Violence is frequent and fairly bloody, with gunfights, stabbings and a few gory injuries, and a sharp sense of threat throughout; sexual content is minimal. It suits fans of cyberpunk style and 1990s science-fiction action who don't mind a rough, pulpy finish.
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