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Cyberflicks are mechanical at best

By Michael Zilberman
Daily Arts Writer

This week, it's a face-off between two summer cyberflicks, "Virtuosity" and "Hackers." Both failed at the box office in the theatrical release. Now, either they manage to achieve a cult status on video and lead a respectable shelf life ever after, or this week marks their departure into oblivion. Both of them fully deserve the latter.

The entire batch of last year's computer tales, including "Johnny Mnemonic" and "Lawnmower Man 2," firmly proved the genre stillborn both creatively and in terms of marketing. The only possible exception is Irwin Winkler's "The Net," a Sandra Bullock semi-hit that used high-tech settings to spin a more conventional Hitchcockian narrative. Then again, that's what cyberflicks tend to do -- take old genres and attempt to artificially invigorate them by shifting the action into the world of MTV angles and trippy graphics.

"Virtuosity," the better of the two current offerings, is, for one, a souped-up serial killer hunt. Denzel Washington plays a prisoner used in some murky experiments that involve tracing down imaginary criminals in cyberspace. Before long, his computer-created game partner, Sid (Russell Crowe), comes alive and continues the fun in the real world. Sid is capable of recovering from injuries by munching on glass, and his mind is an amalgam of about 50 famous maniacs (with John Travolta thrown in, judging from his mannerisms).

If all of this sounds even remotely intriguing, it's not. Whatever promise was there in the beginning is ruined by the plodding execution and a decidedly tired performance from Washington. The movie has its witty moments, like several representations of computer game settings filmed live (a street scene where all pedestrians are dressed the same or a shoot-out during which bystanders don't react).

In the end, Crowe walks away with the movie; there's some sort of a wicked exasperation in Sid's scenes, even as he's strutting down the street, with "Staying Alive" clucking in the background. Speaking of that, there's also a moment of 1995's most inexplicable use of music. When Washington escapes his jailers, he does it to the accompaniment of Live's "White, Discussion." Kelly Lynch appears halfway through the movie as an absolutely unlikable love interest.

"Hackers," the most actively obnoxious of the lot, is a cyberspace version of a kids-vs.-the-Mob movie. As it follows the adventures of lap-top-wielding adolescent hooligans, it completely buys into computer nerds' vision of themselves as superintellectual rebels (incessantly peddled by other media). Hackers in question are presented as surfer dudes of the cyberspace, exchanging pseudo-hip pronouncements ("Hack the planet!") while enthusiastically earning their carpal tunnels.

In the second half of the movie, the kiddies encounter someone more seriously evil (played by Fisher Stevens, who can't be seriously anything). His name is the Plague, and he's out to conquer the world. The kids, using keyboards and skateboards, fight back. If I'm not mistaken, somebody also gets laid in the process. If there is a surprise to be found in "Hackers," it comes from the fact that this drivel is directed by Ian Softley, whose first feature was "Backbeat."

Other recent releases:

"Dangerous Minds" -- Essentially a weak update of Bel Kaufman's "Up The Down Staircase," this originally low-profile project was turned into a huge hit by a marketing assault courtesy of the (now-defunct) Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer duo. Coolio's single on the soundtrack didn't hurt, either. I've heard many12-year-old girls gleefully recite: "As I walk into the darkness in the shadow of death ..." The film itself wasn't worth the push behind it. The fact that the teacher gets inner-city kids to pay attention by playing them Bob Dylan gives you a general idea of exactly how out of touch its creators are.

Michelle Pfeiffer's character is a dream educator from some near-fascist fantasy: If you behave, she literally throws candy bars at you; if you don't, she can kick your ass. The vision is made all the more sickening by the movie's solemn confidence in its obnoxious recipe for order: Marine teachers! Then again, the same suburban kids who ate up the soundtrack, didn't seem to mind -- or care.

"Under Siege 2: Dark Territory"--This entry finally exhausts all possible locations for same-time, same-place actioneers pioneered by "Die Hard." Now, it's a train! Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal), the cook from Andrew Davis' first "Siege," enjoys his well-deserved vacation when the train he travels on is, of course, taken over by terrorists. This time around, the script burdens Ryback with a cute daughter and a young sidekick (still better than the soldier-and-stripper pairing of the first installment).