Johnny Mnemonic is a weird, uneven cyberpunk romp that plays like a rough draft of Reeve' future masterpiece, The Matrix. It's very odd in its tone, and although the story is sometimes prescient, the narrative lacks the cohesion necessary to deliver on the inspired premise. Dolph Lundgren is in the mix, and so is '90's mainstay Dina Meyer in her first feature film role. Johnny must get a ton of data out of his head before it kills him, and to make things worse, the Yakuza are hunting him down. In this box office flop, Reeves plays a data courier named Johnny Smith in this crazy movie from director Robert Longo. Reeves walks that tonal tightrope well, but the movie struggles to service his good effort. Her character makes some legit wacky choices because she's unburdened by the seriousness of the real-life tale. Much like his character, Reeves is caught between two worlds: The grounded, contemplative story this movie started out being, and the more supernatural, magical wannabe action epic that the finished project ultimately became. Reeves isn't present for that battle, however he's too busy using a magical sword to fight off a shapeshifting witch played by Rinko Kikuchi ( Pacific Rim). The imagery is lush and the final battle is solid. That's not the director's fault, and it's not Reeves' fault either. This movie, however, is definitely an unfortunate victim of studio interference. Reeves must have liked working with him, because they'll soon share the screen again in John Wick: Chapter 4. Hiroyuki Sanada ( Westworld, The Wolverine, and the recent Mortal Kombat) is the real hero of the film, leading the band of Ronin who are seeking to avenge their fallen master.
Keanu Reeves plays Kai and his character is more involved with the odd fantasy side of the movie, playing a "half-breed" man who was found in some magical woods that are never explained. The studio forced Rinsch to add that stuff, with some of that material added in post. There's the grounded take on the historical Japanese tale of the 47 Ronin that director Carl Rinsch wanted to make, and then there's a weird, somewhat forced attempt at injecting that take with a clumsy dose of fantasy pulp.
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