Set in one of those not-so-distant futures that look surprisingly like an already-here present, this ineffably dull virtual-reality bomb makes feeble use of its sci-fi subtext.
After skipping out of a near-impregnable prison island, K314, where the powerful Pacifica Corporation banishes felons, Evie (Audie England), who's been raised in captivity, gets separated from her fugitive beau, Vegas (Costas Mandylor), and tries to enter polite society on the Pacifica mainland.
Fearful of tarnishing his "foolproof" method of convict-containment, Warden Wyndham (Ivory Ocean) convinces lifer Nick (Billy Wirth) to help him recapture the island escapees in exchange for freedom.
Before the manhunt kicks in, Evie kills an insistent man who has paid her for sex. Serendipitously, Evie is befriended by a manic-depressive bisexual, Maria (Meredith Salenger), whose suicidal cliffside plunge paves the way for Evie to assume her identity. Sharing Maria's penchant for virtual
reality trips, Evie is also taught the ropes of non-penitentiary lifestyles by Maria's neighbor Jimmie (Joel Grey).
While Nick noses around for clues, Evie takes a job waitressing at a trendy club owned by the Warden's business partner, Peyton (Morgan Fairchild). Balancing her dwindling loyalty to Vegas, whom she temporarily aids, with her growing affection for Nick, Evie tries to submerge painful memories of
childhood sexual abuse at the prison colony.
After Vegas jealously kills Jimmie, he viciously assaults Nick, who is as yet unaware that the Warden plans to terminate him after he leads the Warden to the escapees. During a stand-off at Evie's pad, Nick slays Vegas in self-defense and also kills Wyndham. Evie leaves the wounded Nick. Years
later, Evie, now the owner of Peyton's place, and Nick, now the Crime Commissioner, are reunited by their love of virtual reality.
After STRANGE DAYS, VIRTUOSITY, CYBER BANDITS, BLUE FLAME, etc. shouldn't Hollywood producers declare a moratorium on virtual reality-themed action opuses? Perhaps they should just insist that their screenwriters brain-travel through the scripts of better movies. With paper-thin characters acted
by stars who seem to have just awakened, this torpid crime-and-punishment flick never once quickens the pulse of spectators. Scripted in a vacuous fashion and directed in a desultory mood, no connection exists between the characters and no momentum builds between potentially cathartic events. This
movie is a fugue state for souls like Evie, who have been reborn yesterday.
A minor misfire, VENUS RISING shoots itself in the foot instead of fashioning suspense out of Nick tracking a suspect who bewitches him, and fails to juice any voltage out of Evie being torn between two lovers.
In the leading roles, England, Wirth, and Mandylor merely pose their way through the story line like a trio of fashion-model zombies. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, extensive nudity, sexual situations, substance abuse.) leave a comment
