Hackers (1995)

[7]

A group of teenaged computer ‘hackers’ are blamed for unleashing a virus that will capsize oil tankers. Before they’re all captured by police, they band together and seek the aid of hackers worldwide to help unmask the real bad guys — a pair of corporate embezzlers working from inside the company. The premise of Hackers requires a hefty suspension of disbelief regarding what teenagers might have been able to accomplish on keyboards in the mid-90s. Or that they’d be so noble in their hacking endeavors. But if you’re willing to make that suspension, Hackers is a surprisingly effective little quasi-fantasy thriller.

Director Iain Softley offers enough energy and style to make typing and telephoning as exciting as cinematically possible. The young cast — including Angelina Jolie (Girl Interrupted) and Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) — are attractive and charismatic. They’re so good, in fact, you wish the screenplay focused a bit more on their relationships. The subculture of these characters makes for a fascinating backdrop, with nifty wardrobe, party scenes, and vernacular. The lighting by Andrzej Sekula (Pulp Fiction, American Psycho) is striking, and the soundtrack — featuring techno tunes by Underworld, Orbital, and Prodigy — is one of the best assemblages of the decade.

Hackers is an awkwardly adolescent movie, too childish to take seriously but cogent enough to accept on its own terms. The film feels like its lovingly made, and that goes a long way for me. I also appreciate how it portrays its young characters as a forged family who live by a code of honor — and one seemingly accepting of racial and sexual diversity. That goes a long way, too.

With Matthew Lillard (Scream), Laurence Mason, Jesse Bradford (Swimfan), Renoly Santiago, Fisher Stevens, and Lorraine Bracco.