Intcatinfo
A Masterpiece!
HomeyTao
For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.
Derry Herrera
Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
FlashCallahan
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre has developed SID version 6.7: a virtual reality entity which is created from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers. LETAC wants to train police officers by putting them in VR with SID, but they must prove the concept by using prisoners as test subjects. One such prisoner is ex-cop Parker Barnes. When SID manages to inject his personality into a nano-machine android, it appears that Barnes might be the only one who can stop him............The film is total rubbish from beginning to end, and Washington allegedly only starred in it because his son wanted him to do it, but to see two wonderful actors star in such exploitative nonsense, you cannot help but love every second of it.Crowe has a mouthful of scenery in every frame he's in, and he appears to be channelling every comic book villain portrayed before 1995. There are elements of The Joker, Simon Phoenix, and even Karl from Die Hard in his persona, and although he's hamming it up to major bacon levels, he's a joy to watch.Washington is playing it deadly serious though, and few quips wouldn't have gone a miss, but it's Washington, and I'd watch him paint a room.The special effects are awful, some of the set pieces are really strange, and the concept of the film, and the way the narrative plays out is just so bonkers, it's actually quite ingenious.Don't get me wrong, Bret Leonard is an awful director, more concerned about the concept of VR rather than actual reality, and this is a really stupid film, but my word, is it entertaining to see Crowe do something so ridiculous.It's the second best film that Washington and Crowe have starred in together.......
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Denzel Washington Week: Day 1Nothing says the 90's like Virtuosity, a big hunk of circuit board sleaze and cheese that is so of it's time that it's hard to watch it these days without believing it to be some kind of spoof. Re-reading that sentence it sounds like I was making some kind of underhanded compliment, which I suppose is a better outcome for a film to arrive at than some. It could have gotten stale or dated in a bad way. Well it's definitely not stale (it is dated though), in fact it's one of the liveliest flicks from back then, thanks mostly to a ballistic characterization from Russell Crowe. Crowe is Sid.6, a virtual reality program molded from the personalities of several different serial killers and designed to basically wreak havoc. This is exactly what happens when he escapes, or rather is let out by one of the maniacs at the research centre (Stephen Spinella). Sid is now flesh, blood and roughly 200 pounds of extremely skilled, remorseless killing material, running wild in the unsuspecting streets. The head of the Institute (William Forsythe) has the brilliant idea to recruit ex-cop whack job Parker Barnes (Denzel Washington) to hunt Sid down and destroy him. Barnes has a bleak history with artificial intelligence, one that has left him with a cybernetic replacement arm and a huge chip on his shoulder. This is one mean, mean spirited film, as we are subjected to a manic Crowe as tortures, murders and maims innocent civilians with a grinning cavalier cadence the Joker would applaud. He's off his nut here, something which clumsy bruiser Crowe rarely gets to do, so it's a rare and extreme outing for him. Washington is perpetually angry, ill adjusted and violent here, and the lengths he goes to destroy Sid are almost as bad as his quarry's homicidal antics. The cast is stacked with genre favourites, so watch for Costas Mandylor, Kevin J. O'Connor, Louise Fletcher, Kelly Lynch, Traci Lords and a weaselly William Fichtner. The special effects... well what can I say, this was the 90's and they look like a computer game that's been drenched in battery acid, then souped up with caffeine. There's brief homages to video games in fact, and the opener where Crowe is still inside the program is fairly creative. I don't know if the creators of the film were trying to say something about the dangers of virtual reality, but whatever it was, it's sort of lost in a hurricane of unpleasant shenanigans that are admittedly entertaining. One thing that's evident is that anyone who makes a computer program with the persona of one, let alone a handful of murderers is just begging for an incident. I suppose that's the point here though, the catalyst for the whole deal. Crowe and Washington are great though, both down and dirtier than their characters in the next royal rumble they'd share, Ridley Scott's American Gangster. Fun stuff, if you have a strong gag reflex and don't take yourself too seriously.
buckikris
I bought this film awhile back for 50 cents on Amazon, just because William Fichtner was in it. I think he is a talented actor, who ranked up there among the best like Washington, Ford, Connery, etc.. Yes i am a huge Fichnter fan and he and Washington made it tolerable to watch this weird and unrealistic film. I am not a Russell Crowe fan at all, like his character SID 6.7, Crowe is so full of himself it's pathetic. First off the film is bazaar, it has to take place 15 years or more into the future. Think about it what police department would spend that kind of money on a virtual reality program to train their police officers. It a fact a computer can only train officer so much, while most of the training is done with real instructors; and real police academy students. I watched this movie again last night and didn't know whether to classify it as a comedy or Sci-Fi. I think the reason why I gave it a 6 star rating is because it does have some humor to it. As for paying money to see it at the theater, I'm glad I didn't. I then found out it was form the same director as the one who made Lawnmower Man, and that movie was more of a mistake than Virtuosity. THX, Kris L. CocKayne
MisterWhiplash
Brett Leonard is a name that has fallen by the wayside, and, maybe rightfully so. The director of such a film as The Lawnmower Man didn't really make anything of note since this film Virtuosity (unless one counts Highlander 5: The Source to be of actual quality which is hard to argue for), but there was a time when he knew where to put the camera and shoot as far as action and competency with his actors. The plot of Virtuosity is cut out of other movies to be sure, and would be again (one may be reminded of 12 Monkeys with its convicted man put on a mission by his captors, or even by Batman with its anti-hero and psychotic villain creating chaos all over the city), but, perhaps if only in retrospect, the movies carries some solid entertainment in the near-mindless tradition of loud, stupid Hollywood science fiction movies of the 90's. It's like John Woo lite.There isn't much to the plot except that a former detective (Washington) in prison for killing a man, and a few others, one of whom responsible for the death of his wife and daughter, is put into a virtual reality simulation against a psychotic being (Crowe), who is let into the real world by an asswipe who wants to get back at his bosses or something, and now the mano-a-mano is on in the real world (and, another former movie reference, Escape from NY: finish the mission, get a full pardon, but don't mind the chip in your head that might kill you). The plot is cookie cutter, and there is lack of motivation to some of the action until the over the top climax comes around. But within the silly context of things, it does make sense. And for those who may be tired of the super-fast action cutting of today's product (Bourne, Transformers, Expendables), it is a relief to be able to see what's going on.Will it be amazing for everyone? Probably not. It does have generic plotting and the very end is close to a cop-out. But one big factor in my enjoyment of Virtuosity, on top of the decent action, were the stars, Washington and especially Crowe. The latter gives a performance that is surprising considering where he went to for the rest of his Hollywood career. This is an actor with a lot to prove, and it's ironic considering Crowe is having more diabolical fun as a Terminator-cum-Joker than he has had in most other more serious action oriented roles. Sometimes his mannerisms make the stakes a little crazier, or simply the way he acts across from stoic and concerned Washington that makes it work so. Strange as it might seem, it's really one of Crowe's finest performances, true to the wonky nature of the character and just wicked fun. It's like Crowe's imitation of a Rutger Hauer performance, which is a sight to see on its own.Certainly it's no masterpiece, but Virtuosity has its charms and moments of excitement. It's likely the highpoint of Leonard's career, which may not be saying much, but putting together cool virtual reality sequences (the opening is most thrilling) and two high-caliber stars makes for some fun Saturday afternoon viewing.
