Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Johnny Mnemonic Blu-ray Movie Review

Keanu warms up for The Matrix.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater June 4, 2011

Earlier this week, experts at the World Health Organization announced an inconclusive conclusion that electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones are “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” I mention this only because one of the plot points in the William Gibson-penned 1995 cyberpunk film Johnny Mnemonic is a disease called Nerve Attenuation Syndrome—a.k.a. “The Black Shakes”—which is caused by, yes, you guessed it, overexposure to electromagnetic radiation. Clearly, Gibson wasn’t entirely off base in imagining a future world where our increasing reliance on ever- present electronic technology has more harmful side effects than just our collectively decreased attention span. One of the charms of predictive sci-fi in general is in looking back at past novels and films and seeing how they were right or wrong about the current technological trajectory. In Johnny Mnemonic, for example, the future of the internet is a ludicrous, Tron-inspired virtual reality interface constructed from CGI that looks completely primitive now. On the other hand, during one scene, you can hear the film’s titular main character—played by Keanu Reeves—asking for a “Thompson iPhone.” A coincidence, of course, but one that will probably make you do a rewind double-take. Someone should warn Keanu that that Thompson iPhone may cause cancer.

Keanu knows jujitsu...again.

In a decade that produced Terminator 2, Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix, and Twelve Monkeys—among many others—Johnny Mnemonic is undeniably one of the lesser sci-fi films of the 1990s. Still, this hasn’t stopped it from developing a certain semi-understandable cult status among cyberpunk fans, mostly due to its post-Blade Runner, proto-Matrix vision of a technological dystopia. Like much of William Gibson’s work, the setting is an Eastern-inspired not-so-distant future—2021, to be precise—controlled by greedy, heartless mega-corporations. Keanu Reeves plays Johnny, a “mnemonic courier” who has a “wet-wired neural implant” that allows him to carry a whopping 160 GB worth of data in his head. (Yes, for contemporary reference, this would allow his brain to hold three, maybe four Blu-ray rips of Avatar.) To clear this space in his noggin he had to have his childhood memories removed, but his boss (a sleazy Udo Kier) promises to have them restored once Johnny completes “one more run.” Ah yes, that old narrative framing device. And, of course, this last run will be the most dangerous yet. Johnny agrees to ferry the pirated top-secret data from Central Beijing to the “Free City of Newark”—don’t fear, no Jersey Shore cast members show up—but he’s got two problems. 1.) Even though, at 320 GB, the file is too big for Keanu’s brain—imagine that—he decides to inject it anyway, risking death within 24 hours from “synaptic seepage.” 2.) The evil PharmaKom corporation has hired Japanese yakuza to track down the stolen data, and the gangsters have standing orders to lop off Johnny’s head and bring it back in a cryogenic cooler.

The third element of the story is “The Black Shakes,” a disease that PharmaKom doesn’t want to cure because—and this might remind you of the attitude of today’s pharmaceutical companies’ toward cancer and AIDS—it’s more lucrative to treat the illness than eradicate it. It’s no real mystery, then, what Johnny has stored in his head and why PharmaKom’s goons are being dispatched to retrieve it. What we have here is a self- sustaining plot driven by Hitchcock’s MacGuffin—in this case, the cerebrally-stored data—an object that has no real consequence to the story itself other than to put the characters in motion. This kind of narrative can only work if the characters are dimensional and the story has enough twists along the way to sustain our interest. Otherwise, it’s pointless. Unfortunately, the film is pointless. Even setting aside the fact that the very idea of a “mnemonic courier” is nonsensical—Why store data in the brain when a portable hard drive would just as easily suffice?— Johnny Mnemonic’s plot amounts to nothing more than an hour-long chase through a world of cyber-junkies, “flesh mechanics,” and manic street preachers. Sorry…did I actually make that sound intriguing? Well, on paper it is, I suppose, but the execution is way off. The characters are one-sided and undeveloped, the direction is muddled, and while Johnny is supposedly in a dire race against time, we never get a sense of the stakes. Sure, we’re told that his head could explode at any moment, but Keanu’s characteristically blank acting style rarely gives any indication that this is a very real possibility.

All that said, Johnny Mnemonic has one thing in common with many cult movies—it’s just ridiculous, goofy, and outright bad enough to be good fun, even if it’s clearly not a good film. Did I mention that none other than Dolph Lundgren plays a bearded, homicidal preacher/assassin who, at one point, announces his presence by bursting into a room behind a gurney on which lies a woman who’s been staked through the heart with a crucifix? Did I mention he might be the best actor in the film? Then there’s rapper-turned-actor Ice-T—sporting facial tattoos, dreads, and ski goggles—who gets to introduce himself thusly: “I’m J-Bone. I run Heaven, the Lo-Tek headquarters.” For real. And let’s not forget former punk all-star Henry Rollins, who turns up in geek spectacles to ineptly play “Spider,” a cybernetics specialist. (Sorry Rollins, I dig Black Flag, but I’ve never bought you as an actor, not then or now.) Other players in this junky futuristic gimcrack include Dina Meyer as a hottie bodyguard with a bad case of the shakes, and famous Japanese comedian Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, whose role as a trouble yakuza leader is regrettably shortened in this U.S. cut of the film. (The Japanese edition—which has never been released here—is slightly more fleshed out, and features a different soundtrack.) While fun, the overall effect is that Johnny Mnemonic feels like a low-rent Blade Runner; you might even call it a cinematic replicant, a knock-off that doesn’t have the soul or substance of the real thing.

Johnny Mnemonic Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Image Entertainment has given Johnny Mnemonic one of those this is probably as good as it's ever going to get transfers—that is, a 1080p/AVC encode that's faithful, but reminds us that the film was never exactly eye candy to begin with. First things first; there's no sign of excess DNR, edge enhancement, or other kinds of tampering here. The film's sometimes-chunky grain structure is largely intact, and you'll see no haloing or harshness when it comes to outlines. The image, however, is frequently gauzy and soft, with a sore lack of truly resolved detail. Fine facial textures, for example, are only visible in the tightest close-ups. The picture is also drab and somewhat dim. Vibrant color is pretty much limited to a few explosions and the Lawnmower Man-esque CGI scenes; otherwise, you can expect lots of sludgy grays and muddy browns. Additionally, lifeless contrast and soupy blacks do nothing to give the image depth. Could the film look any better? I'd say yes, but it's hard to say. The one thing that's clear is that this Blu-ray version is certainly at least a modest improvement over prior DVD editions. Personally, I don't think I'd go out of my way to upgrade—unless this is one of your favorite films—but if you don't yet own the movie, this release is your best bet.

Johnny Mnemonic Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is much more objectively impressive than the picture quality, if that helps your buying decision at all. While not as active, accurate, or immersive as today's whiz-bang-pow sci-fi soundtracks, this mix offers plenty of surround speaker involvement and a surprisingly potent dynamic range. The "INTERNET 2021" sequences have all manner of zippy, swishy cross-channel movements, and Johnny's data uploads/downloads are accompanied by an assault of sound from all sides. There are a few sequences that could have punchier or more involving sound design—the scene where the yakuza first bust in on Johnny comes to mind—but there are also some unexpectedly nice sonic touches, like the deep thwoosh of a rocket launcher being fired and the powerful explosion of a hand grenade. The score sounds like it belongs more in the late '80s than the early 1990s—lots of electronic tom-tom drum rolls—but it has a sufficiently strong presence. Dialogue throughout is clear and easy to understand, and if you need or want them, the disc comes with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

Johnny Mnemonic Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The lone supplement on the disc is the film's theatrical trailer, in high definition.

Johnny Mnemonic Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Johnny Mnemonic feels like a shoddy prototype for The Matrix, a similar but superior film that beat William Gibson at his own game, giving us a cyberpunk world that was both more sophisticated and more influential in terms of how action films are now made. Nonetheless, Johnny has its share of cult movie charms, from its ridiculous premise to a surfeit of bad acting. (I can't get enough of Dolph Lundgren waving his staff around.) Fans will be glad to know that the film looks and sounds good on Blu-ray, although it looks like we may be waiting a long time for a 2- disc or seamless branching addition that also includes the longer Japanese cut of the movie. If you've never seen Mnemonic, rent it first.