I recorded Johnny Mnemonic last night and watched it this morning, and here’s the Mastodon thread that I sort-of live-tooted while I watched.
begin thread
Is it retrofuturism if I watch Johnny Mnemonic—made in 1995, set in 2021—in 2024? Or is it something else entirely?
Either way, this movie is a weird artifact. It’s based on a William Gibson short story, featuring the first appearance of Molly; but when it was made, IIRC, someone had the film rights to Neuromancer, and since Molly’s a big character in that, they replaced her with a different character.
I saw this in the theatre, or—more likely—at the drive-in. (There’s some retro for you; anyone still have a local drive-in?)
My memory of the movie is that they got some of the Gibsonian aesthetic down—
holy crap, is that Ratz, tending bar?
—sorry, got distracted. They got the look of the thing, but they missed the storytelling by a wide, wide margin.
Also, I distinctly recall two quotes about this movie, one from a review and one from Gibson.
The review: “You know your movie’s in trouble when the two most convincing characters are played by Dolph Lundgren and Ice‑T.”
(My reaction at the time: “You forgot Henry Rollins.” But now, about 30 minutes in, Rollins’ acting was pretty wooden.)
The other quote, from William Gibson, is one that I’ve held on to.
“Once you sign the cheque [from Hollywood], your creative control ends. They can fill it with dancing pink rabbits and you can’t say a word.”
(paraphrased from memory, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got the gist of it)
I recorded this off the TV, and the ads are amusing: most of the technology in them is light-years ahead of what the filmmakers predicted. (But then again, science fiction isn’t about the future; it’s about the present.)
Did he… did he just ask for a “Thompson iphone”?
(Probably “eye phone” but it was a weird bit of prescience)
Also, this 2021 internet is wild
Someone just said “Crazy Bob’s Computer Shop” with a straight face and if that’s not acting, I don’t know what is.
I’d love to find a copy of New Rose Hotel, based on a different Gibson short story, and see what it’s like. Compare & contrast.
Huh, the Yakuza baddie in Newark is played by the same guy who played Zatoichi.
Henry Rollins is back, and he’s very much Henry Rollins-ing all over the place.
Ice‑T, in the very next scene, remains convincing.
It’s been so long since I’ve seen this that I can’t remember if Jones the dolphin makes an appearance, or if he’s only in the short story.
320GB is a lot of data, yes, but back in ’95 it would have been a lot
I can’t help but think
MollyJane might be more comfortable if she had an undershirt between her skin and that chainmail tank top she wears.
Oof, 20% on Rotten Tomatoes (and a whole 31% from The Audience)
Ah, there it is, the burning VW Bug (as I recall this was the source of WG’s comment about “dancing pink bunnies”)
Aaaaaand the “room service” soliloquy (which reminds me of a 3rd quote I saw about this movie, in another review; the reviewer said that “I want room service, dude!” would’ve been more in keeping with Keanu’s acting chops. (You have to remember this was made long before movies like The Matrix and John Wick, back when we thought maybe Keanu Reeves had peaked in Bill and Ted.)
But honestly, watching this movie now, the “room service” soliloquy might be the closest thing we get to a genuine emotion from Johnny, or from most of the characters.
That bridge that houses “Heaven” echoes the Bridge trilogy, too, which IIRC was Gibson’s next work after finishing the Sprawl trilogy.
Also I’m not sure the screenwriter fully grasped how encryption (or I guess enciphering) works, but then again I don’t think Gibson was a computer scientist either.
Wait, there’s two flaming VW Bugs in this thing? How did I forget that?
I like how the Lo Teks in the movie use crossbows and dress like Mad Max extras, but in the short story “low tech” was a sawed-off shotgun in an Adidas bag padded with tennis socks.
The Preacher seems like a pro-wrestling gimmick incarnated. (Also like a dancing pink bunny, q.v.)
this CG is… well, “dated” is probably the kindest way to put it
A lot of CRTs in 2021, apparently
Impressive how quickly the baddies’ office tower caught fire once the download happened
Boy, there’s sure a lot of 90s industrial music in this.
So, as I recalled, the movie is strong in suggesting a William Gibson milieu, but not nearly as strong at telling a story in that milieu.
Which is a little odd, given that the screenwriter is [checks notes] William Gibson.
Anyway, this was fun. I’ll leave this as a coda, from the Music section of the credits:
“Alex Descends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk”, written by Bono and the Edge.
fin