The most useful article I ever read in the late, lamented Premiere magazine was one about how to read a movie poster's credit. An ampersand between two writer's names means they were a team. An "and" means a re-write. One of the two credited writers (and, as usual in movies, there may be more writers involved) must have been the one to dump a whole bucket of stupid over this script. Otherwise, the original writer must have decided to write on a subject about which he knew nothing.
For instance, the main character, Max, is supposed to be some highly skilled computer security expert. OK. So why, exactly, is his security system apparently limited to a user name and password? An 8 character one at that? Any 13 year old code kiddie out there could download an application to crack any 8 character password in minutes. This nonsense would have been acceptable back in the days of "War Games" when few viewers would have access to a computer, but virtually every viewer of this film has a computer - and a password. Would it have killed the director to not be quite so blatantly disrespectful to the audience? Another thing (not a spoiler if it happens in the first five minutes of the film) is that he short circuits a wall socket with a metal belt buckle. I'm pretty sure every person who has used electricity is aware that there are such things as circuit breakers - or at least fuses - that will blow without taking out an entire data center.
Both of these stupid things happen in the first five minutes. It doesn't exactly get a whole lot smarter as the film goes on.
For instance, the main character, Max, is supposed to be some highly skilled computer security expert. OK. So why, exactly, is his security system apparently limited to a user name and password? An 8 character one at that? Any 13 year old code kiddie out there could download an application to crack any 8 character password in minutes. This nonsense would have been acceptable back in the days of "War Games" when few viewers would have access to a computer, but virtually every viewer of this film has a computer - and a password. Would it have killed the director to not be quite so blatantly disrespectful to the audience? Another thing (not a spoiler if it happens in the first five minutes of the film) is that he short circuits a wall socket with a metal belt buckle. I'm pretty sure every person who has used electricity is aware that there are such things as circuit breakers - or at least fuses - that will blow without taking out an entire data center.
Both of these stupid things happen in the first five minutes. It doesn't exactly get a whole lot smarter as the film goes on.