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Hackers More at IMDbPro »

The computer geek's dream..., 26 December 2006

Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Luoyang, China

More than a decade has passed since Hackers was released and movies about computers do not stand the test of time very well (at least as far as the technology in the films is concerned), but I think Hackers has stood the test of time relatively well, more than likely because it has such great characters and it's just so much fun.

The movie was cast pretty much entirely with unknowns, and even with their tiny budget they were able to make this into a clever roller-coaster of a nerdy thriller, fulfilling the fantasy of every hacker of being chased by and outsmarting the government. The cheesy romance between Dade (Johnny Lee Miller) and Kate (Angelina Jolie) works surprisingly well, and the performances are impressive throughout.

There is a sense of union and camaraderie that is generated between the characters, which is impressive because they don't just throw something into the dialogue about how long they've been friends. Consider the scene where Ramon taps the phone to get the operator and secretly dial his friend - "It's in that place where I put that thing that time!"

Everyone involved very easily passes as genuine computer geeks, although the movie also commits that early sin of having images from the computers projected onto the faces of the users, so you can watch text and pictures crawling up their faces and they stare at the screens, a goofy invention similar to the tendency - which persists to this day - of having any kind of computer or stopwatch usage being accompanied by lots of clicks and beeps, I suppose to remind the audience that something is happening or about to happen.

But the computer stuff in the movie is really beside the point, which is good because it's so outlandish. Like WarGames, Hackers will have you believe that any kid with an internet connection can hack into government mainframes and cause a global crisis, financial or otherwise. The story is about the characters, which is good because they are well-developed, in most cases, while much of the rest of the movie is not.

There is a clever villain who is not so much a villain as much as another hacker who happens to have different objectives. He has some smart lines ("Never fear, I is here."), and the rivalry between him and the main characters provides for some great scenes. Besides being a curiosity piece about some well known actors at early points in their careers, Hackers is a smart technological thriller that takes wild creative liberties with the capabilities of a still- emerging technology, but makes it into quite a fun ride.

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