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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY September 21 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN HACKERS Starring Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie. Screenplay by Rafael Moreu. Directed by Iain Softley. (eee of 5 eyes) by CAROLYN BENNETT Judging by the amount of inline-skate-bound kids and their bored- looking parents at a matinee of Hackers, computer technology and its culture are dominated by youth and defines "generation gap" the way rock `n' roll or drugs once did. This isn't just a matter of not understanding junior's Nirvana tunes -- adults failing to expose themselves to computers and cyberspace will be victims of the information age with their kids lording over them. Hackers doesn't raise any of this intentionally; it's too entertaining and fun for that. A cast of virtual unknowns (pun intended) comprise the Hacker squad. Jonny Lee Miller is Dade (a.k.a. Crash Override, a.k.a. Zero Cool), an antisocial computer genius who can break into any system and wreak havoc. He hooks up with a group of gnarly teens led by Kay, a.k.a. Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), a gorgeous, cool chick who hacks with the best of them. When the Hackers break into a bank system and accidentally uncover something suspicious, they're tracked down by the FBI for all the wrong reasons. Movies about computers are generally pretty deathly and it takes a talent to bring electronic sabotage to life. Director Iain Softley (Backbeat) succeeds by taking the viewer on a wild psycho-electronic ride, through image, space, codes and digits, into the brains of systems and networks. The kids are appealingly androgynous and their cyberworld hangouts (techno cafes and clubs where everybody smokes and drinks caffeine) are hip. The story ends up sliding into convention (guy gets grrrl) but hey, we're not cyborgs yet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421