October 2006 Archives

Neat--I've made it far enough that I can review sequels to previous internet-based movies. I am actually quite excited to see how they update the classic 1995 THE NET, with this straight-to-video sequel starring absolutely no-one. (Although one of the ladies was in FINAL DESTINATION 2.) Anyway, let's check out THE NET 2.0.

Beginning with a mildly interesting chase scene, THE NET 2.0 introduces us to our protagonist, Hope Cassidy. She is on the run from the police in some foreign city, and there are multiple freeze frames to provide character backstory. Actually, there is far too much slow-motion in the movie, I suspect to drag out the running time to make it feature-length. Most of the movie takes place in flashbacks, and it isn't afraid to employ every plot development attempt to make you forget that you are watching essentially the same story as the first movie. Woman has computer job, someone steals her identity, she has to fight to prove that she is herself, blah blah blah. That's it...let's look at some photos:

Here's that freeze-frame I was talking about. Run, Hope run! You are the only HOPE in this movie.

We know she is good at her job, 'cause she is able to make windows like this appear on her laptop.

Hope flies to Turkey to accept a high-paying job, and the flight attendant is so nice, she just gives her this bracelet! At first they make you think it is going to be like that bad voodoo charm Greg Brady picked up when The Brady Bunch went to Hawaii, but it is totally way cooler! We later find out it is actually a GPS tracking device. How thoughtful of that lady.

You'd expect this sequel to have newer and neater gadgets, and they sort of deliver, as with this tablet PC.

However, most of the time Hope is just running and will sometimes check her email. Hmm, I wonder why there is so much Microsoft product placement in this movie? Also, I can't get www.danemidnight.com to load!

I never knew translating to Turkish could be so easy. Time to recycle that old Turkish-English dictionary.

OMG, doesn't it look like that thing just exploded out of her belly?! Actually, Hope had to pretend to be shot to help nab the bad guys. Blood-packs are cool.

Good thing Hope ran into these folks. I'd always want a guy with an awesome mustache on my side.

Obligatory computer room shot at the end.

Well, THE NET 2.0 wasn't very good. It didn't have 10+ years to become outdated and cute. Instead, it was the same basic story as the first film, with "exotic" Turkish locales that didn't make up for the predictable story. Oh well, maybe it will be a fun watch in the year 2015.

Okay, I'm back for another go at this series. This time I'll be looking at 2001's ANTITRUST, which focuses on fresh-out-of-college computer supergeek Milo Hoffman (played by a way-too attractive to be such a nerd Ryan Phillippe), who is offered a job he can't refuse with the hip Portland-based company NURV, headed by Bill Gates-esque Gary Winston (Tim Robbins). ANTITRUST is yet another cyber-thriller, although this time around the emphasis is on the inner-world of competitive programming, and the drive to be the dominate force in controlling the flow of information, even if it means killing people!

Let's take a look at some scenes from the film:

Here we have Gary trying to convince Milo to join his evil company by impressing him with this CGI view of his mansion.

Once inside, Gary shows off this fancy painting that changes the display depending on who is in the room.

Someone in set design must have been terribly proud of this thing, because it shows up multiple times in the film. Oh, and Milo makes a comment like "doesn't Bill Gates have something like that?" To which Gary responds "Bill who?" Ha! Get it?! By acknowledging Gates with that quip, they can avoid any lawsuits I guess.

Here we have a look at their not-so-impressive lecture hall. I will NEVER UNDERESTIMATE RADICAL VISION again, and I suggest you do the same.

Whoa, not only does Milo have a hot live-in girlfriend, he also gets to hang out with a cute girl at work (yet another example of how computers will totally get you some action).

In another attempt to distance the film from Microsoft's Seattle comparisons, they insert the classic Portland shot so you know this isn't Seattle. I'm actually not too embarrassed to admit I've seen the exact same shot used in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210.

Hmm, I didn't know computer programmers were allowed to pump their own gas in Oregon.

Things start to go wrong for Milo in a meeting with Gary where he finds out some evil about NURV, and trippy montage head-explosion ensues.

When the bad dudes are chasing Milo they use a GPS navigation system, and it turns out those are actual real streets in Portland/Beaverton. Surprisingly, there is amazingly very little misuse of technology in this film.

Milo eventually exposes the horrible truth about the company and takes his message to the world, which of course is visually represented by Times Square.

BTW, The exact same seen was shown in HACKERS, although that time instead of Tim Robbin's face saying "I'M MURDERING PROGRAMMERS" it was Matthew Lilliard's ugly mug.

The last shot of the film shows Milo and his remaining two computer friends celebrating their survival, and thankfully it allowed me to finally see that those friends were actually two different guys. Talk about all white guys looking the same!

ANTITRUST is a difficult film to criticize technologically, instead it really takes a beating when it comes to the script. More than THE NET and HACKERS, which were fun because they were unrealistic and dated, ANTITRUST is just plain stupid, and therefore not recommended.