Alrighty... it\'s a David Cronenberg flick (he\'s a crazy Canadian if you don\'t know who he is).
Plot Summary for
eXistenZ (1999)
Allegra Geller, the leading game designer in the world, is testing her new virtual reality game, eXistenZ with a focus group. As they begin, she is attacked by a fanatic assassin employing a bizarre organic gun. She flees with a young marketing trainee, Ted Pikul, who is suddenly assigned as her bodyguard. Unfortunately, her pod, an organic gaming device that contains the only copy of the eXistenZ game program, is damaged. To inspect it, she talks Ted into accepting a gameport in his own body so he can play the game with her. The events leading up to this, and the resulting game lead the pair on a strange adventure where reality and their actions are impossible to determine from either their own or the game\'s perspective.
Snipped from IMDB.com. Starring:
Jennifer Jason Leigh .... Allegra Geller
Jude Law .... Ted Pikul
Ian Holm .... Kiri Vinokur
Willem Dafoe .... Gas
Don McKellar .... Yevgeny Nourish
Callum Keith Rennie .... Hugo Carlaw
Christopher Eccleston .... Seminar Leader
Rated R for strong sci-fi violence and gore, and for language.
Again, snipped from IMDB:
"\'eXistenZ\' sorts out the men from the boys. That is, your reaction to this marvellous movie will depend whether you are S.F. literate and familiar with Cronenberg\'s oeuvre, or a \'Matrix\'-loving, Johnny-come-lately. Now I enjoy \'The Matrix\' as a superior action movie, but no movie in recent years has been so overrated, and grossly exaggerated as intellectual fare! \'eXistenZ\' and Alex Proyas\' similarly overlooked \'Dark City\' are everything \'The Matrix\' claims to be - intelligent, thought provoking, CHALLENGING S.F.
This movie is almost a summary of all the themes and motifs that Cronenberg has been obsessed about for the last 25 years or so. Especially the Burroughsian "biological horror" and the Phildickian questioning of reality. While it echoes many of his previous movies, it especially evokes his masterpiece \'Videodrome\'. It may not reach the hallucinogenic heights of that movie - very few have - but it certainly takes you to places most contemporary S.F. and horror movies don\'t even try to reach.
However this movie isn\'t just Cronenberg rehashing his "greatest hits". There are more than enough new and interesting touches, especially the Rushdie-like Fatwah theme, the odd sexual symbolism, and the witty touches such as the bone guns that fire teeth. Helping all this along is the interesting, carefully chosen cast. All are good, but I especially like Willem Dafoe\'s creepy garage mechanic, and it was also great to see Canadian cult star Don McKellar (\'Highway 61\', \'Twitch City\',etc) as the enigmatic "Russian" Yevgeny.
\'Videodrome\' has taken many years to find its real audience, and maybe \'eXistenz\' will too. But I believe eventually it will be recognised for what it is - a work of great imagination and flair."
Yeah, I was too lazy to write it myself.
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