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Hear me out: why Johnny Mnemonic isn’t a bad movie

The latest in our series of writers defending films hated by many is an ode to the 1995 William Gibson adaptation starring Keanu Reeves as a tech antihero

Johnny Mnemonic, Robert Longo’s 1995 William Gibson adaptation, offers a wide target for derision. The more cynical among us might scoff at the depiction of technology run amok in “the future” (the film is set in 2021), the irrepressibly sweet earnestness of Keanu Reeves’ cynical antihero, and (spoiler alert) the salvation of humanity coming in the form of a cybernetically enhanced dolphin (“It’s a FISH!?!” yells an incredulous Keanu). The very premise of the story – that Keanu (as data smuggler Johnny) has so much information contained within his brain that it may explode at any time – may even be enough to raise a smirk.

Related: Hear me out: why The Paperboy isn’t a bad movie

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