eXistenZ

'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.

"We're both stumbling around together in this unformed world, whose rules and objectives are largely unknown, seemingly indecipherable or even possibly nonexistent, always on the verge of being killed by forces that we don't understand." So says Ted Pikul in the film. Which for some people sums up life and 'eXistenZ' probably is a film about existence. What is real and what is unreal and how you tell the difference. Or not. The last line of the film is superbly ambiguous.

The film seems like a shaggy dog story (indeed it has a real shaggy dog in it) but it takes you along on an interesting ride, full of provocative Cronenberg touches that will make you look at amphibians, game pods, fish, spines and bones in a new light. Some bits are quite icky. It takes place in a rural setting where the gas station is called 'GAS STATION' and a Chinese restaurant is called 'CHINESE RESTAURANT.'The film has an engrossing texture that is leagues away from your usual big budget science fiction movie.You can read many things into the film and it repays watching more than once.

The main actors are Jude Law who is OK and Jennifer Jason Leigh who is great. Some roles don't suit this very talented actor but when she has a good role like this she is unmatchable. Her unconventional beauty and fascinating voice suits the part of Allegra. (Looks great in a short black skirt too.) There are other familiar actors but they are not given much to do. It looks good, sounds good and a Howard Shore score complements the film very well. Cronenberg is possibly the Alfred Hitchcock of the sci-fi/horror genre. No matter what film he makes he is always worth watching.

"eXistenZ" is like a missing link. It was clearly overshadowed by other movies of a similar nature, but I believe "eXistenZ" is a quality addition to the sci-fi genre that focuses on alternate digital reality. Or we could say virtual reality. It follows right in the mold of movies like "Tron," "Videodrome," "Lawnmower Man," and "Virtuosity." And it was totally overshadowed in 1999 by the uber-popular "The Matrix."

"eXistenZ" is a crude virtual reality gaming movie. Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a world-renown game creator who has just designed a groundbreaking VR game. This VR game could be played like other VR games in this movie by the user plugging the "game pod" (which looks like an amorphous sack of skin covered flesh) into a "bio port" in the spine. Once in the game the users can barely distinguish between game and reality.

Allegra Geller had enemies who were from the Realists Underground. They were intent on killing her and destroying her creation so that reality as we know it wouldn't be compromised. If only the Realists Underground had been available when the Matrix was created.

Even though the execution of the movie wasn't the best, the concept was great. It really was a lower budget form of "The Matrix" or "Ready Player One." Like an episode of "The Twilight Zone," this movie got into that blurred line between reality and virtual reality and the possibility of not being able to distinguish one from the other. It was a mind melter of "Inception" proportions that should be given a gander.

Antenna Research is testing a new game system eXistenZ created by great game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh). An assassin shoots her with an undetectable organic gun. She is injured and marketing trainee Ted Pikul (Jude Law) takes her away from the danger. Her pod contains the only copy of eXistenZ and she has to test it. Ted is forced to get a bio-port installed by underground installer Gas (Willem Dafoe). However he turns out to be out for the contract on her life. It's a long road where reality is questionable and the world is full of danger.

It's a lot of ooey gooey organic effects and perverse sexuality. I'm not sure if Cronenberg is actually making a point but it seems to be warning a merging and confusion between reality and game. It's a lot of weird stuff going on. It's not scary or even disgusting. It's just oddly fascinating.

I feel compelled to speak up for this film against the spoilt ravings of the it-said-it-was-like-the-Matrix-but-I-didn't-see-any-cool-computer-graphics-a nywhere crowd that have dominated these pages.

There seem to be two schools of thought on the use of special effects in movies. The prevalent theory - depressingly common among film goers and film-makers alike - seems to be that a good effect should stand out of a film and make the audience coo like a pigeon. If you subscribe to that theory, fine, watch the Matrix and be happy. If you think that a special effect is a means to an end, a way to portray a fictional vista as a believable realism, then watch eXistenZ and marvel at how a grotesque and visceral world can be made so engrossingly real and intriguing. This film has its fair share of effects, but they are so well grafted into the ethos the film evokes that you just won't notice them on first viewing. And in contrast with the current trend towards computer-generated effects, Cronenburg knows the value of his tactile world; the physical creativity involved in the gristle-gun building scene is a fantastic example.

Okay, so virtual reality has been used many times as a concept - and by films that actually came BEFORE the Matrix too - but the totality with which this film portrays its own organic brand of VR is truly engrossing. Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh are utterly watch-able and the chemistry between them is the perfect vehicle to lead an audience through the admittedly gruesome situations the film describes.

There is an element of old-fashioned escapist fantasy in this film that manages to be strangely endearing despite the gore and I suggest that this is where the film triumphs - a triumph that can be attributed to clever writing, intelligent acting and characterisation, a compelling story, charismatic leads, a vivid and disciplined imagination and the discerning use of effects and visual style.

If the Matrix is an `oooh, aaah' sort of film, then this is more an `oooh, eeugh' movie - but don't allow the glare of the Matrix to dull your senses to the darker appeal of eXistenZ.