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For those who have asked, Johnny Mnemonic is a novella that is collected in Gibsons book, <i>Burning Chrome</i>. Well worth reading.
Johnny Mnemonic is a better Story than the Matrix, marginally. They cut so much of the good stuff from the book to make the movie on a budget.
The Matrix, on the other hand is 50 to 100 times the film that Mnemonic is. It is coherent, surprising, and innovative. So much is missing from Mnemonic's story that the plot is dumbed down to trivialities. Further, comparing the grand vison of the book to the patchwork of the movie cannot but be to the movie's detriment. THey did a better job than Lynch did with <i>Dune</i>, but not by much, and, of course, Keanu phoned it in on Mnemonic, but showed up in person for the Matrix. Neither was he called upon to play a smart guy in the Matrix, and, lets face it, though he has about the breadth to his acting ability, Woody Allen he ain't. Joe Pantoliano would have made the better choice for Mnemonic; he can do Shrewd, at least.
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Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns.
Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
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