KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Irishchatter I thought Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law were good as a team but what was really lacking here was the storyline, including the cliffhanger at the end! There were some scenes that were dragging on for me to really understand clearly whats going on with each characters. I would prefer if they made the story more upbeat, more action and more understanding. It was like there were a lot of question marks while watching this film and they were a headache. I am a big fan of video game movies but I don't think this movie is one of the best they have ever made in Hollywood. If it was inspired by an action game like Doom, or Duke Nukem, it would've earned a better rating. I would recommend people who are also video game fans to watch this but, be prepared to get confused at some scenes, thats all i can say to ya!

mjsreg As I looked at the cast list thought it would be worth watching.Despite the 'talent' employed in the movie it seemed that this was written to appease their egos and relied on their reputation to get viewers.Jude Law (as usual) was grey and uninteresting as the lead character, and Jennifer Jason Leigh hardly gave a performance that was mind-blowing - or that interesting.The story wasn't that interesting either. Mostly the lead characters sitting around talking rubbish in an attempt to add some depth.Definitely one on the 'seen it and won't watch it again' list.

Mr_Ectoplasma Set in a presumed near future, "eXistenZ" follows Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a game designer who has invented a revolutionary virtual reality game in which subjects are plugged into an alternate reality via ports inserted in their spinal columns. After an assassination attempt is made on her during a volunteer participant game launch, she and Ted Pikul (Jude Law), a meek PR agent who has been assigned as her body guard, find themselves on the run in the countryside, where reality and the virtual world of eXistenZ coalesce as they plug themselves in in order to salvage the game.It had been years since I'd originally seen this film, and I recently re-watched it as an adult with some extra years in me, and the film was in some ways stranger (and in others more logical) than I had remembered it. "eXistenZ" is a magnificently surreal exploration of virtual reality with notes of Cronenberg's signature body horror and all the makings of a trippy sci-fi exploitation flick.Fans of science fiction, head trip horror, and Cronenbergian splatter will find plenty of enjoyment to be had here. The film's ominous opening frames the surrealistic, ambiguous shifts in and out of reality that make up the last two third of the movie. I feel that some of the disappointment audiences had with the film (both upon its original release and over the ensuing years) has been due to mismatched expectations; for as much of a sci-fi thriller as this is, it's also extremely talky and dialogue-driven. This gives room for some very interesting and nuanced performances, specifically from Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose acting is calculated and simultaneously free-flowing. In retrospect, Jude Law seems miscast here to me to some degree, although he does succeed in drawing out the beta-male elements of his character that evolve into moments of legitimate confrontation as the film progresses.The special effects here are not over the top, and actually are rather minimal; most of the fantastical whimsy of the film comes from its labyrinthine distortions of events, virtual gameplay, and performativity of the self in both tangible reality and the matrix that is eXistenZ. The finale of the film is understated and shockingly macabre, and, though not as inventive as you may expect, is cleverly constructed and in many ways remarkably dour and nihilistic.Overall, my revisiting of this film was quite an experience; for first-time viewers, it is likely to be even more so. Jennifer Jason Leigh's nuanced performance is reason enough to give the film a viewing, but there is plenty more in way of thematic material, surrealism and hyper-realism, and maddening existential questions that Cronenberg frames through a matrix of science fiction and utter weirdness. The film has held up surprisingly well over the years, and is as engrossing today as it was nearly twenty years ago. 8/10.

Spikeopath Hee, yet another David Cronenberg picture that divides opinions, not just among the casual film watchers, but also his most ardent fans.Plot is a little nutty in actuality, as it finds Jennifer Jason Leigh as the world's most high profile games designer. While testing her new virtual reality game out with a focus group, an assassination attempt puts her on the run with an ally of sorts, marketing man Ted Pikul (Jude Law). With the prototype of the new game in their possession, the pair must enter the game's realm to unlock the various puzzles and threats that now confounds and stalks them.With Cronenberg back to writing something solely from his own head, eXistenZ finds the Canadian auteur happy to be back making a truer piece of work for his kinked visions. Unfortunately the advent of such virtual reality fare and various realist themes was well in filmic swing come the time eXistenZ was released, rendering it in some eyes as a band wagon jumper. That's unfair, because it's still a unique film, as Cronenberg blends body horror with visual invention to create a mind warp of gaming possibilities, a thrum thrum of futuristic verve. He gets top performances out of Leigh (great hair as well) and Law, while the narrative is constantly tricky enough to demand the viewer pays attention whilst being prepared to, perhaps, be surprised.Not prime Cronenberg, but still smart and funky, twisty and nutty, scary and oblique. So very much a Cronenberg original, then. 8/10