01 February 2010

Hardwired (2009)

In the near future, where corporations run the world (just like in Rollerball), Cuba Gooding Jr (The Devil’s Tomb, Outbreak) wakes from a car accident to find his wife dead, that he has a spider like computer chip in his head, and he has no memory of his past. It’s all part of a nefarious plot instigated by Val Kilmer (Red Planet, Willow) and Hope Industries. Things look dire for Cuba until a very spunky Tatiana Maslany (Diary Of The Dead, Ginger Snaps Unleashed), Juan Riedinger (The Day The Earth Stood Still, Blood Ties), Chad Krowchuk (Snakehead Terror), and Michael Ironside (Terminator Salvation, Surveillance, Total Recall, Scanners) turn up to help him.

Hardwired is a disappointingly predictable cyber thriller. And I use the term thriller lightly. Kilmer and Ironside look like they want the paycheck to keep them in donuts. Cuba tries hard to bring some class to the production, but is outwitted at every turn by the unimaginative script. It’s still worth watching to see Ironside (who has made so many good films) play a nice guy and the cute Maslany all punked up.

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