Remember the computer virus that Will Smith used to kick alien ass in
Independence Day? Well, in this sci-fi disaster flick, the aliens "are"
a malevolent electronic infestation that takes over a high-tech Russian
research ship caught in the eye of typhoon. The aliens' conduit to the ship is
a data transmission from the Mir space station as it is engulfed by the
lifeform's dreamy blue mass. Also in the eye of the storm is a sinking tug. Her
crew are delighted to find dry ground aboard the ghost ship, which promises a
salvage mother lode, but then the power gets switched on and the mammoth vessel
springs to life -- literally. First come the little electronic scatter bugs,
which look like something out of Errol Morris's Fast Cheap and Out of
Control. Then the gory half-human, half-machine assassins, ridiculously
tethered by power cords.
Based on the Dark Horse comic-book series, the plot itself is a gory
concatenation of Hardware and Event Horizon -- two of cinema's
more forgettable sci-fi thrillers. The cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis,
William Baldwin, and Joanna Pacula, put in a yeoman effort to little avail.
Even Donald Sutherland in the potentially juicy role of a self-serving old sea
dog goes down with the ship in this suspenseless big-budget "thriller."
--Tom Meek
Capsule Reviews
Virus 
Virus 
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