'90s Class?: Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

 Let's get festive with...a cyber-punk Film from the 1990s?  I have a reason.
You know what it is.  I know what it is.

Johnny Mnemonic is Keanu Reeves' first foray into this World, but it's obviously been overshadowed by the Wachowskis' Films.  Should it deserve more praise?  It was actually adapted by the original writer- William Gibson (who also wrote Neuromancer- so that's a plus.  It's from a Music Video Director- Robert Longo- and that always goes well.  I mean, Catwoman won some Awards (don't look up which ones), after all.  You also have Dina Meyer, who has some unique Sci-Fi credentials (Decoys 2 and Star Trek: Nemesis).

To keep with the retro-futuristic feel of things, I watched the Streaming Version on Netflix, but I used a DVD from 1997 to get my Caps.  There's only one thing or two that it affects, but I hope you appreciate by commitment to the bit.

Are you ready for the tale of a man, a cybernetically-enhanced lady and the people that want them dead for a whole 320 GB of data?  If so, then read on...

So, obviously, I did this to tie into the new Matrix Film.  

That said, I couldn't have picked a better year to do it...

Johnny- who doesn't know his last name- has a strange job.

He has a storage bank for data in his head and transports data that way, working for a creepy Udo Kier.

He's doing- say it with me- one last job to get out.

He meets some people in Beijing, but he has to take in DOUBLE the amount that his unit can hold.

He does so- to get enough money, ironically, to have the implant removed- and the meeting ends in a bloodbath.

Back in Newark (they kind of gloss over the trip back), he's on the run from the Yakuza after they kill his Boss.

He ends up with Meyer, who inadvertently helps just to prove herself initially.

This is also obviously Canada.

To find out what is so important about the data, Johnny has to get online in a very fun, but silly sequence.

Here's the one big difference in the DVD Version vs Streaming- the Subtitles.  

In this bit, he asks for one last item that the 1997 Subtitles put in a bit differently than the 2021 Subtitles...

*****

The Yakuza and the guys who made the data are still after Johnny, so the latter hire a crazy cyborg- although he's like 95% robot by now- named Karl (Dolph Lundgren) to kill him.

This is the last Film that Dolph would be in that was released in Theaters until 2010's The Expendables.  That's a drought that beats Steven Seagal- 2002's Exit Wounds to 2009's Machete.

The difference- Dolph has come back to Theaters a few times since (like Creed 2).

He learns from Meyer's Doctor- Henry Rollins!- that he has the information that can cure a deadly disease ravaging the population.

This is apparently a big change from the original story and it's kind of for the better IMHO.

He joins forces with the LoTeks (people who live on the Street and don't cyber-upgrade) to get the data out via...a dolphin.

Look- people were REALLY into Dolphins in the '90s (see SeaQuest DSV).

The Third Act juggles a bunch of things and characters...

Takahashi (Takeshi Kitano) is bad, then good...then dead.
Karl shows up and gets blown up.
The Yakuza show up, fight and get killed.

The LoTek's place nearly gets wrecked.

Can Johnny get the data?

Yes and our Heroes celebrate as the evil Pharmaceutical Company goes up in flames.

The truth is out there and the day is saved.  The End.

A pretty solid adventure, especially if you can ignore the dated elements.  If you didn't live through the '90s and its Films, there's certain things you need to expect.  If you don't have that nostalgia, some of this is going to feel really odd.

For instance, we were REALLY into the Internet at this point, teaching kids about it, making Films about it and even putting Jonny Quest into it.  It was just a big old craze.  We get stuff like Virtuosity, The Lawnmower Man and The Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe's War, just to name a few.

Thankfully, this Film only delves into that stuff a bit.  It isn't knee-deep in it like other Films/Shows (like ReBoot).  In a change from the original material, Johnny is the action lead here, which kind of weakens the Meyer role.  She still leads him to people that help him, but is less important than in the Book.

In summary, the Film is dated in many ways- like its literal date- but comes across as more of a '90s Action Film than a Cyberpunk Film.  In 2021, its visuals mostly hold up and the Story is strong.  Of course, the 1997 DVD does have one more thing to make it dated...

Next up, a special Tubi Review for the Holiday.  It's time to wrap up the Franchise that wasn't this Christmas.  Stay tuned...