Cypher

There was a stylish approach to this film on the part of director Vincenzo Natali with interesting camera angles and effective close-ups. It was also refreshing to see Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu given leading roles and expanding their range as performers. This film also included one of the most imaginative "escape" scenes in recent years. The efforts of the director and the actors combined in an effective thriller.

Although the plotting of the film was convoluted, the story progressed very clearly as the layers of corporate greed and skullduggery were revealed.

In 1949, George Orwell suggested in his famous novel "1984" that the future would be ruled by the totalitarian State, which would control minds and diminish human liberty. It was interesting that in this intriguing futuristic film, it was not the State, but rather the corporate world that controlled and devalued the human worker.

Cypher is an entertaining but irritating film. Nothing in the film is exactly as it appears, and the film reads a lot like a Dean Koontz novel . It's premise is ridiculous, and none of the characters are particularly believable, but you still feel compelled to go on because you sense that something clever is afoot. Indeed, something clever is going on here, but most alert and intelligent viewers will see each plot twist coming, and will feel (at least through most of the film) that they have seen it all before. In my opinion, Cypher is worth watching anyway - if not simply for its occasionally gorgeous photography then for its original and interesting finish.

In fact, nothing about the film itself is really what it appears. It poses as an independent project but obviously sported a sizable budget, and drew the backing of some attention of some big names. It appears to be a sci-fi film, but it's really just a pedestrian spy thriller with a few sci-fi elements tossed in to differentiate it slightly from the dozens of similar films that have been made in this popular genre.

Likable Lucy Liu plays her usual role - an ambiguous heroine who could be a savior or a slayer for Jeremy Northam - a man who has been reprogrammed, brainwashed, and seems on his way to hell with a one way ticket. Northam plays a man without a fixed identity . He is a corporate spy who has been so badly used that he no longer knows who he is and who he is working for. Yet the film only superficially resembles The Bourne Identity. To its credit, Cypher offers some amusing parodies of itself and its ilk very early on. Northam makes the film with an evolving, highly dynamic, and often annoying performance - playing a character who is, in fact, at least three different characters.

Though Cypher is somewhat predictable in terms of action and events, it is never exactly made clear what is motivating everything until the very end. And, in the end, the payoff is worth the sometimes aggravating pace and superficiality of the film.

Vincenzo Natali's feature debut 'Cube' was in my opinion the best science fiction movie of the 1990s. By "science fiction" I'm not meaning Star Wars style space opera aimed at 13 year olds, but mind expanding storytelling in the tradition of Philip K. Dick, Robert Silverberg and William Gibson. Or movies like 'Bladerunner', 'Brazil', 'Dark City' and 'eXistenZ', and yes (just in case you think I'm a mindless Lucas basher) 'THX 1138', a movie which Natali incidentally cited as an inspiration for 'Cube'. It's been a long wait but 'Cypher' is certainly worth it. This is a very stylized and cerebral film which Natali describes as being "Kafka meets James Bond", and he's not joking. There have been a few Philip K. Dick adaptations in the last few years but they always seem to lose the quirkiness and intelligence of his work and degenerate into big expensive action movies. 'Cypher' isn't actually based on a PKD story but in many ways it's the closest thing to his fiction yet seen on a movie screen. Apart from the two leads the cast is made up of Canadian character actors, which gives it a freshness missing from many contemporary Hollywood productions. 'Cube' co-star and long time Natali friend David Hewlett has a memorable role as the creepy Vergil Dunn, keeper of The Vault. He gives one of the best performances in the movie. Incidentally, also keep an eye out for a brief cameo by Valerie Buhagier, star of Bruce McDonald's cult favourites 'Roadkill' and 'Highway 61' in one of the conference scenes. The main stars are unusual picks. Brit actor Jeremy Northam has appeared in a few big American movies but is still pretty much unknown to most audiences. He uses this to his advantage and gives a terrific performance. I honestly can't imagine anyone else doing this difficult role any better. Lucy Liu plays the femme fatale part to perfection. Maybe she's just trying to get indie cred by appearing in 'Cypher', but who cares when she gives a good performance in a great movie. Plus she looks damn fine! 'Cube' has already become a cult favourite, and there's no doubt in my mind that 'Cypher' will do the same. I think audiences will be discovering both movies for years to come. Vincenzo Natali is shaping up to be one of the most exciting genre directors currently working and I'm really looking forward to what he comes up with next!

Cypher was a movie I was looking forward to after I had read some comments here about it's story being like the works Philip K. Dick, an author whose paranoid tales I love to read.

As far as plot twists go Cypher never disappointed me, even though the last plot twist was a bit out there, it had a very cool ending that was very satisfying. The level of suspense was ok, this movie was not a nailbiter but it has really nice atmosphere at times with the opening music theme and the many shady operatives. A thinking man's movie as well, you need to pay attention throughout the movie or you will lose track. No problem in the DVD-age I would say. Overall it was acted very well. Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu definitely deserve movies as good as this, although they don't seem to have found that many in their careers.

Visually the movie is stunning, it is filmed very tight and stylish, with a few well-dosed effects. This movie probably had a relatively modest budget but it looks awesome. Overall this was a very pleasant movie experience.

8 out of 10

When The Matrix appeared in 1999 and questioned existence and identity, it was expected that a lot of movies would use it as inspiration. That didn't really happen, surprisingly, and it took till 2002 for a movie of similar theme to appear. But to say Cypher is a clone would be to its discredit.

The story is of a Morgan Sullivan, who applies for a job with a high-flying techno-company called Digicorp. His job is to be a spy and gain information about a rival company, while under an assumed and false identity. His home-life is perfectly normal but he has to lie to his wife about what he's actually doing. However, things start to take conspirital turns and before he knows what's going on, he starts to question who he actually is. This is not helped by a strange woman who turns up...

Twists and turns at every direction keep you absolutely fascinated, and at no point does anything ever seem contrived or unbelievable.

It's an enthralling journey through a not-too-distant future, and with good acting all round will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Highly recommended.