Looking back, the nineties were a bit of an awkward period for cyberpunk films. Many sci-fi movies of the decade made bold predictions about what life would be like in only a few years in the future, and one case is the 1995 movie Johnny Mnemonic. Led by Keanu Reeves, Johnny Mnemonic painted a bleak future for the year 2021 that, luckily, has not come to pass.
With this sprawling dystopian tale being adapted from a short story for the big screen, there are even suggestions from those behind the scenes that the final product was not what was intended. This action-packed sci-fi movie has flown under the radar for a lot of fans of both the genre and Keanu Reeves — and for good reason. It’s messy, bleak, and packed with lackluster performances, and yet, some people have a soft spot in their hearts for Johnny Mnemonic.
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What Is Johnny Mnemonic About?
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Johnny Mnemonic |
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Director |
Robert Longo |
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Screenplay |
William Gibson |
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Cast |
Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, Dina Meyer |
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Release Date |
April 15, 1995 |
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Runtime |
96 minutes |
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Budget |
$26 million |
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Box Office |
$19 million |
In the dark and gritty future of 2021, methods of transporting massively vital secrets have changed. The hero of the story, Johnny Mnemonic, acts as a data courier who fills his brain to the brim with secreted and encrypted information. Thanks to the world’s reliance on tech, specifically the internet, a new scourge referred to as the NAS has begun running rampant. NAS stands for Nerve Attenuation Syndrome, and unfortunately, the powerful corporations that seem to control much of society have a vested interest in ensuring that NAS continues to run through the population.
Johnny Mnemonic must avoid the Yakuza and their assassins as he finds a way to get the cure for the NAS — which is secretly stored in his head — out for the public. With some help from the erratic characters Jane and J-Bone, Johnny battles the corporation Pharmakom as they work to stifle the introduction of the cure. The dreary tale has its moments of levity, but the ambitious story does keep a consistently dark and edgy tone that is commonplace in dystopian sci-fi.
How Does Johnny Mnemonic End?
As Johnny Mnemonic, Jane, and J-Bone work to decrypt the vital information lodged in Johnny’s head from the Lo-Tek base, they are forced to contend with a massive invasion from the Yakuza. With the cure to the NAS scourge in Johnny’s head and Pharmakom wanting to flex as much control as possible, it falls on their connection to the Yakuza to stop the cure from being sent out across society. After a massive battle with Johnny standing victorious, he is able to gather another key to decrypt the information in his head. Johnny and his bodyguard Jane also manage to defeat a heinous assassin known as the Street Preacher, who had been pursuing them on behalf of the Yakuza.
Having to hack Johnny’s mind to decrypt the data, a helpful AI that Johnny has seen throughout the film reveals itself to be his mother. She was the original founder of the Pharmakom megacorporation that had pursued him the entire film, though she was starkly against everything the company ended up standing for. With the data fully decrypted, the NAS cure is transmitted through the internet, officially stopping the plague. As Johnny and Jane celebrate their victory for society, Pharmakom is lit ablaze, ensuring that at least one megacorporation won’t be able to hurt people anymore.
What Is Johnny Mnemonic’s Rotten Tomatoes Score?
Johnny Mnemonic has not been received well by most viewers. It received a measly 18% from critics and 31% from the general audience. With more than 50,000 audience reviews, there are a lot of diverse opinions about the seemingly underwhelming sci-fi movie. Some feel that the movie was an ambitious effort that was simply ahead of its time, also often resulting in cries for a remake. Even positive reviews throw in complaints, with the general audience critiquing just about every aspect of the film. Whether it’s the dialogue, the story, the performances, or the overall feel of the film, there is a lot that even those who love the movie simply can’t mesh with.
Despite the difference in the scores of the critics, many of the same critiques hold true. Many top critics believe the film doesn’t hold a candle to anything else Reeves has done in the genre. However, there’s also a handful of critics who can enjoy the cheesiness of the movie. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film an uncharacteristically glowing review in comparison to many of the other negative voices:
Perhaps it’s quaint, but it’s also watchable, and it is the kind of sci-fi that is genuinely audacious, trying to envisage what the future will be like – and often succeeding. And it poignantly juxtaposes its futurism with a yearning for the past, in the form of Johnny’s abandoned memories.
While it seems that more people tend to end up not liking the movie, fans of old-school dystopian properties will be doing themselves a favor by seeking out Johnny Mnemonic. It’s worth a watch, especially for viewers who love movies of the “so bad it’s good” variety.
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