Review of Johnny Mnemonic (1995) by Mike S — 09 Jul 2015

Pre-Matrix Keanu Reeves plays Johnny, a courier who uploads valuable information directly into a chip in his brain and carries it to its intended recipient for downloading. He hates his job and wants the chip removed, but that costs money. So he takes on one last high-paying job, but there's too much data for his storage capacity and threatens to leak out into his brain and kill him in 24 hours unless he can download it. What he doesn't know is the data is stolen and the owners want it back and will kill him and cut off his head to get it. Because in this future world, there's no Internet and no backups.

It's an interesting premise, but the execution of the idea is confusing and pointless. There's lots of running around, lots of gunfights and fistfights, and a group of anti-technology revolutionaries using technology to tell everyone to disconnect from technology because it's making them ill. Watch Blade Runner instead.