Virtuosity Reviews

With LAWNMOWER MAN and HIDEAWAY already to his credit, director Brett Leonard is king of computer-generated hallucinations. An effects-dependent futuristic thriller, VIRTUOSITY stars Denzel Washington as an ex-cop who's in jail for avenging himself on the mad bomber who murdered his wife and child. Washington gets the chance to redeem himself by taking on Russell Crowe, a virtual Frankenstein's monster who's escaped from cyberspace and is wreaking havoc in the real world. Crowe's smirking monster has been cobbled together from the worst character traits of famous serial killers and sociopaths, so naturally he gets all the film's best lines. Unfortunately, VIRTUOSITY ignores character development in favor of slick set design and mindless action sequences. Consequently, it plays like an outdated video game.