The Net (1995) Watching older films that steeped themselves in the computer technology of their era can't help but give you some chuckles.
.......like watching 1960's movies where the computer (usually named 'Brainiac' or something similar) comes equipped with big fat spinning tape spools and more blinky lights than the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree......
And the lightning speed at which our technology advances can make hi-tech hardware and software from even a few years back look antiquated, clunky and hopelessly archaic.
That's why we smirk at the sight of some movie character talking on a brick-sized mobile phone.....or a movie like the one we're covering today, where screen graphics looks like early arcade games and actors shove in floppy discs to retrieve info vital to the plot (and their survival).
Even with the display of all the out-of-date tech, "The Net" still holds up a highly watchable innocent-fugitive-on-the-lam thriller.
The film cleverly casts our most relatable, down-to-earth girl-next-door Sandra Bullock as a nerdy IT master who stumbles upon a nefarious, far-reaching villainous plot engineered by a Steve Jobs-like silicon valley billionaire.
Unlike other high profile tech bros (like Tim Robbins in "Antitrust" Tom Hanks in "The Circle", and Jessie Eisenberg playing Lex Luthor and Mark Zuckerberg, the techie-terrorist here stays mostly off screen, appearing only in fleeting news headlines.
But he's a force to be reckoned with.......... he's upended Sandra's life by not only assigning her identity and life to an imposter he's sent out a ruthless, heartless hunky hitman (Jeremy Northam) to delete her personally.......and permanently.
Lucky for Sandra, she's every bit the tech-savvy equal of her tormentors, nimble fingers dancing across the keyboards and constantly outwitting the snaky Northam who for all his slick charm, seems no better a hitman than Wile E. Coyote chasing after the Road Runner.
If you're willing to overlook the now primitive looking screen graphics and all the other outdated paraphernalia, "The Net" still functions well as a breathless hunt-and-chase exercise in Hitchcockian thrills.
Unlike Cary Grant, engaged in the futile chase of fictitious spy 'George Kaplan' in "North By Northwest", Sandra Bullock more than matches wits and keystrokes with both the imposter and the hit-guy. This guarantees us a satisfying climax.....except for the lingering worries about what would happen if some evil hacker tried all this for real and we all wake up replaced by other people.
Fast and super watchable, with a nice shout-out homage to "Strangers On A Train" as Northam stalks Bullock through a crowded merry-go-round. 3 stars (***)
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