By: Sarah D'Avila
The Net (1995)
Genre: Action Thriller
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, and Dennis Miller
Director: Irwin Winkler
Summary: Sandra Bullock stars in “The Net” as systems analyst Angela Bennett who discovers unveiled government information. This possessed knowledge leads to her newly-met co-workers starting to die. During a trip to Mexico, she is charmed by an attractive man, Jack Devlin (Jeremy Northam) who seeks out a mysterious disc she was given at her new job. As she returns home, she is informed that “Angela Bennett” does not exist… has her identity been stolen?
Review:
Recently, I have been watching many movies from as early as the 70’s to as recent as this year. When I was recommended this film I became intrigued. “The Net” was set amid of the internet and social media becoming more popularized. This film was able to put me in the perspective of the “Dark Web” and the consequences that can lead to sharing personal information with strangers online.
Angela Bennett is a systems analyst in Venice, California, who discovers a government secret that leads to people’s personal information being collected from a popular computer game. When she discovers this information, she finds herself on the run from a mysterious man who seduced her on a vacation to Mexico whose intent is to steal a disc from Angela given by her co-worker.
Sandra Bullock did a wonderful job portraying the determined, tech-savvy Angela Bennett. Bullock was able to keep you engaged in the plot as it seems as though she is truly living the situation rather than playing a movie scene. Her chemistry with Jeremy Northam co-starring as Jack Devlin blended flawlessly. His character was very unpredictable and kept you on edge which complimented Angela’s stubborn nature amazingly.
“The Net” is a very fast-paced movie which requires you to devote your full attention for the entirety of 1 hour and 55 minutes; meaning that, at the start of the movie, it contains crucial details to the storyline. If you even miss 5 minutes of the film, you will be lost throughout the rest of it. This is one thing I did not particularly enjoy seeing as movies should have a build-up and not throw out details at you that might leave you confused near the end of the film. This can be found in the pi symbol scene, where a co-worker of Angela, explains to her a mysterious virus that you might think is crucial throughout the movie only for it to be neglected and pop up near the end during the midst of the climax of the story.
This movie teaches you that it is very important to be safe online and think twice about chatting with people on the internet and sharing personal information. Many people do not realize that when you are active online, anyone can see what you are doing and that is the main takeaway from this movie - be safe online.
I would recommend this movie to teens and adults alike as it has an MPAA rating of PG-13. I would consider “The Net” to be an innovative movie for its time. It surely exceeded my expectations as I am not an action movie fanatic; however, this film did an excellent job at keeping me on my toes.
Rating: ☆☆☆.5/5
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