Search - The Net 2.0 on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 3/23/2024...

Not as good as the fun action thriller with Sandra Bullock leading the way!

Hey guys, remember The Net? Yeah, me too.

Andrew Kling | USA | 12/23/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I remember liking the original. Don't you? You didn't? Oh, man, then you are _really_ going to hate this movie. But if you did, well... you are still probably going to hate this movie.

It's hard to know where to place the blame for this film's many, many shortcomings. Is it the writing? Yes, it's pretty superficial. The directing? Well, yes. The acting? Yeah... that could have been better... but you get the feeling that they're trying.
And seriously, what is up with the editing? Yes, freezing the video has been used to effect in other settings, but doing so randomly? Kinda looses the "hip" factor.


Anyway, aside from the title and the premise of "swish computer girl gets her identity stolen", I was at a loss for what this movie shared with the original at all - the same gaffer or best boy? Is that how they can justify the title?

I kind of like the idea of a completely separate story under the same name, but I have one proviso: Please make them good. The writing in this escapade is just weak. It tries to be slick and clever, but doesn't come close.

The leading actress is lovely, to be sure, and I hope she's a very nice person in real life. She tries her best with the material, and while she didn't succeed in saving the movie, she did win the sympathy vote.

My favorite moment in this romp has to be the scene of her infiltrating the "ultra high security offices" of a financial corporation based in some sort of palace. She happens to find a grey worker's jumpsuit and what follows is a beautiful montage of her creeping around with furtive sideways glances looking so ridiculously suspicious it's laughable. It's cute, in a way.

So, while the gadgets in this Net may have more RAM than the original, there is no area in which the new version eclipses its predecessor.
The production value just doesn't hold up, and it only possesses a fraction of the talent behind it, on either side of the camera.

I wish I could say that I didn't like this movie because I'm a Mac guy and this version features a Pocket PC instead of the Apples we saw in the original... but no. (It does make an interesting overarching metaphor, though.)

Even though I quickly abandoned any hopes or expectations when watching this movie, there are still other options with more substance. Try them first. All this being said, if you're looking for an entertaining faux-techno tale of intrigue, and if you're on a budget... this will probably be available in your local $1.99 bin within months."

"The Net 2.0": Updated with Recycled Materials

Tsuyoshi | Kyoto, Japan | 02/02/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The greatest thing about "The Net: 2.0" is the location. The film was shot in Turkey (entirely on HD video) and the city of Istanbul provides a very colorful and exotic backdrop to the story which is just predictable, often impossible and not very thrilling.

The film follows an American computer security expert Nikki Cassidy (Nikki Deloach) who finds a new job in Istanbul. She needs a change; needs something different, something very exciting. Nikki flies to Turkey, leaving her reluctant boyfriend behind, and there she is wrongly accused of the murders by the local authority.

`The Net: 2.0" uses so many clichéd narrative and visual techniques taken from other better thrillers including its original: flashbacks, voiceovers, fast-forwards and jump-cuts, mysterious (and unreliable) strangers, stolen IDs and high-tech machines. Director Charles Winkler gives bits of car chase here, hand-to-hand fights there, and some tricks using James Bond-like hand-made gadgets in between.

Still we are not excited at all. But how can we? The film totally forgets to explain certain important things. Why doesn't she just phone someone in the US? Being a computer expert who actually meets clients, Nikki must know someone who can help her. How was the money withdrawn from her bank account? And most of all, as to the mastermind of this conspiracy, why not bribe her (or someone else) instead of preparing intricate setups?

`The Net 2:0" shows several great aerial shots and beautiful landscapes of the city. the detailed shots of the streets and buildings of the city are in fact much better than the main plot and character themselves."

WHERE THERE'S HOPE

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 03/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"THE NET 2.0 has nothing to do with the Sandra Bullock original, except for the theme of identity theft. Nikki DeLoach stars as Hope Cassidy, a computer whiz who takes an assignment in Instanbul against the wishes of her boyfriend. She should have listened..she's no sooner in Istanbul than her identity is completely wiped out, she's wanted for stealing fourteen million dollars belonging to a corrupt gunrunner, and for the murder of two people, including the girl who stole her identity. She doesn't know who to trust except for the nice stewardess she met on her flight to Turkey.
Aside from the lovely travelogue of Istanbul, there's nothing really new or different, some of the plot is totally implausible, but it does have an unexpected twist I didn't see coming. So for escapism entertainment, THE NET 2.0 is enjoyable."