RETROSPECTIVE: Johnny Mnemonic

Before there was The Matrix, there was Johnny Mnemonic.

Keanu Reeves’ first foray into the cyberpunk genre came in 1995, four years before the Wachowskis’ genre-redefining classic, but not in a way likely to make his career highlights reel.

Johnny Mnemonic slots neatly into a trend of blockbusters fascinated by the possibilities of the still-emerging internet.…

Morgan is a generic sci-fi thriller straight off the assembly line

A man stands in front of a glass cell, ready to question its occupant; a woman who is not truly a woman. If she fails the test, she will likely be terminated.

Where that scenario provided the focal point of last year’s Ex Machina – a restrained study of trans-humanism and toxic masculinity – in Morgan it is part of a much more generic effort.…