Could be the scariest film of the year. The title refers to a global tech giant with a suffocatingly “inclusive” corporate culture that pressures all employees to be “involved” (sound familiar?). The maguffin is a tiny fish-eye camera that can be stuck anywhere and watched by anyone from anywhere. The company encourages everyone to stick there EVERYWHERE. The goal is “transparency.” Everything is stored in the cloud. No more secrets, because criminals and terrorists and child molesters thrive in secrecy. Now everyone can know everything. Would-be Cassandras warning of the death of privacy are drowned out as social media wildly embraces it. Emma Watson becomes a global heroine after she volunteers to stay online 24/7.
The scare — for me, at least — is that this technology is so very feasible in the near future, and I can see the drones who populate FB and the Twitterverse totally jumping on it. I’m well aware that privacy is a myth these days, but imagine Google or the government (they might be the same before long) knowing even more about you than it does already. A credible nightmare.
As a film, however, not so great. I loved Emma Watson as Hermione, but she’s flat here. There’s no suspense, but I was okay with that, because the premise is so horrifying.
After the disappointment of the most recent “Alien” installment, I almost sent this back unwatched, figuring I’d be wasting another 2+ hours feeling “Been there, done that.” So glad I didn’t. What a delightful romp. Check your brain at the door and let it happen. I couldn’t help flashing on Chris Morgan’s revamp of the “Fast & Furious” films with their emphasis on family (a theme that has carried the franchise into its 8th episode) because Vol. 2 here is all about family in its many varied forms. It is by turns funny, touching, cute, and relentlessly entertaining. Hardly a scene in its 135-min running time is wasted. (The opening credits were the weakest sequence.) Kurt Russell has a major role but Michael Rooker steals the movie. You can quibble about this and quibble about that, but from the git-go the film promises eye-catching sci-fi fun and that’s what it delivers.
F. Paul Wilson's Fast-Forward Movie Reviews 