Review of Virtuosity (2014) by Dominic P — 17 Oct 2009

During the 90's V.R. was all the rage. Once director Brett Leonard hit with The Lawnmower man, Hollywood had the bug. But the fad was just as short lived as the TV show V.R.5. The Lawnmower Man 2 sunk like a stone and Virtuosity garnered terrible reviews so tinsle town found other interests.

Here, Brett Leonard (Highlander: The Source) directs the then up and coming Denzal Washington (cop with a shady past), pitting him against Russell Crowe (the literal embodiment of a killer computer programmed with nothing but serial killers).

Crowe gives a riotous performance as the vicious killer, proving early on why he went on to be a Hollywood superstar with Gladiator, Body of Lies and State of Play. Washington (The Mighty Quinn, Deja Vu, Cry Freedom) is wasted on this pap though (indeed, he only did the part as his son asked him to accept) as is Kelly Lynch, both of whom are buried by an inept plot with Grand Canyon sized plot holes, obvious twists and one note characters.

One for Sci-Fi geeks, Washington or Crowe fans only. Crowe and Washington would re-team for the far superior American Gangster 10 years later.