Director:
Charles Winkler
Writer:
Rob Cowan
Cast:
Nikki Deloach ………. Hope Cassidy
Demet Akbag ………. Dr. Kavak
Sebnem Dönmez ………. Roxelana
Neil Hopkins ………. James Haven
Güven Kirac ………. Osman
Keegan Connor Tracy………. ZZ
Relase date: February 7th
Sony Home Pictures Entertainment presents
Running Time: Approximately 93 Minutes.
Rated: R for some violence
The Movie
So this thing, The Net 2.0, is kinda weird. The movie was written by the guy that developed the TV series, “The Net,” and it is directed by the son of the guy that directed The Net.
It doesn’t star any huge names. The lead is some chick from “North Shore.”Other than that we got the guy that plays Liam on “Lost.” Although in Turkey, Kirac, Dönmez, and Akbag are all fairly well known.
Anyways, the flick is about an American (Deloach) who gets a job in Istanbul (not Constantinople). Things go wonky from the start, and she soon finds herself a victim of identity theft, the deadly kind.
Net 2.0 is more entertaining than it has any right to be. Obvious plot devices are explained to death, while glaring plot holes are glossed over. Some of the camera work is abysmal and nausea-inducing. The story manages the not so simple feat of being both illogical AND predictable. The movie, however, tends to wear these things as a badge of honor, firmly embracing its direct-to-dvd status, and thus maintains some inexplicable goofy charm.
It is by no means a good movie, but an enjoyable flick to watch with a group of drunk friends.
Drive-in Totals (With apologies to Joe Bob)
App. 8 dead bodies, lead hit by a bus, 1 vehicular chase with crash, 1 rooftop chase, 1 shot of horse, 2 explosions, gratuitous Russian arms dealers, gratuitous world music, gratuitous ethnic dance, pistol whipping, Turkish stewardess fu, 0 breasts, 0 sex scenes, 0 f-bombs, (wait this is an R movie? why?), line of the movie goes to Deloach as Hope Cassidy: “sometimes all you have left is your name… Hope.”
Doesn’t work if your name is Bethany.
Score: 4/10
The DVD
The Audio and The Visual: No major complaints here. I can’t compare to the theatrical version, ya know? Some shots look a little rough, but I’d imagine that is a problem with the equipment used to film and not the dvd.
The Box
Box is fine. The insert is just an advertisement for a bunch of movies like 8mm2, Single White Female 2, etc. Damnit, I want a chapter list!
For what it’s worth, the dvd itself has green fake matrix-y code on it.
Special Features
Nil. You can watch it in 3 languages and there are 6 languages worth of subtitles. There is a commentary track by the writer and director. Otherwise, the DVD is bare.
The commentary track isn’t bad. It’s full of some horror stories about shooting in Istanbul (Deloach was tackled by a “good Samaritan” while running from fake police), and some weird facts (Dönmez was Dharma in the Turkish version of “Dharma and Greg”). It’s far from essential viewing, but there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
Score: 4/10
