I'm a pretty big Vincenzo Natali supporter. I tend to lump him in with Brad Anderson and David Twohy as keepers of the true B-movie flame due to the fact all three tend to make solid genres movies with modest budgets. And that's exactly what Cypher is: a solid sci-fi/noir made with style on a limited budget.

If you can take the couple of big CG scenes with a grain of salt, you have yourself a handsomely shot and fairly entertaining little movie that twists and turns along at a nice pace. The third act gets convoluted and it comes dangerously close to shitting the bed at the end (many would argue it actually does), but if you dig phildickian thrillers you may dig this.

Cypher is a good (not great) small budget mystery-thriller with a few sci-fi elements. If you watch it expecting something more akin to the Masterpiece Contemporary series than to The Matrix you'll be in the right frame-of-mind. It doesn't have big budget cinematography and some of the score is outright terrible and cheesy (is that a xylophone?), but whatever it lacks in polish it makes up for in story. Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu are involved in some sort of mysterious maze that keeps you guessing almost to the end. The plot might be a tad over-convoluted and repetitious, and you might predict a few things, but that's ok. The ride is still fun.

A very enjoyable, if a bit predictable, spy/noir/science fiction film.

The plot is beautifully structured and the pacing with which it is told is almost without fault. It has a lot of style and enough quirkiness to reach a level that is just a bit higher than most films of this type.

It is just a shame it tries to pull a couple of twists too many that I could see coming miles ahead anyway.

Then again, I probably watch too many movies...

A solid thriller and something of an underrated little gem set in the near future about a chap leading an uneventful life who decides to spice things up by becoming a corporate spy. Initially, the world of corporate espionage seems to be disappointingly dull but things soon take a turn for the strange and dangerous, with the appearance of a mysterious woman and her elusive super-spy boss lurking behind in the shadows behind it all.

It's one of those films I love coming back to, one with solid performances and which deals with interesting notions of the interchangeability of identity and the power and paranoia of corporations, and no amount of dodgy CGI can wither it.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Oh, this movie was so ridiculous, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think part of that was due to the fact that Jeremy Northam is very likable in it. I was rooting for him the whole way through. The plot gets very silly very quickly, but I can overlook silly in sci fi a lot more easily than I can anything else. If you have a fondness for goofy conspiracy theory sci fi, you'll probably enjoy this too.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cypher > The Apostle
Cypher < The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Cypher < The Dresser
Cypher < Foolproof
Cypher > Coraline
Cypher > Captain's Courageous
Cypher > The Madness of King George
Cypher > Hysteria
Cypher < Cry-Baby
Cypher > Dark City
Final spot: #847 out of 1926.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

A brilliant and twisted modern sci-fi thriller. Looking at one man becoming a corporate spy, getting in way over his head and slowly discovering more and more about who he is really working for and who he is investigating.
A real joy that the plot keeps you guessing and what is going to happen next is not obvious.

Oh I do like a mind fuck twisty film. The only reason this is an unknown film is because it trails off like a lame duck as so many do. Still, I enjoy this one and think it could be a candidate for a decent remake one day.

Espionaje industrial a lo cyberpunk (de hecho la historia es muy similar a la de Johnny Mnemonic). Se ve vieja a pesar de sólo tener 10 años. Además el giro final se huele desde bien pronto.

Por lo menos sale Lucy Liu y tiene un par de escenas logradas

I'm a pretty big Vincenzo Natali supporter. I tend to lump him in with Brad Anderson and David Twohy as keepers of the true B-movie flame due to the fact all three tend to make solid genres movies with modest budgets. And that's exactly what Cypher is: a solid sci-fi/noir made with style on a limited budget.

If you can take the couple of big CG scenes with a grain of salt, you have yourself a handsomely shot and fairly entertaining little movie that twists and turns along at a nice pace. The third act gets convoluted and it comes dangerously close to shitting the bed at the end (many would argue it actually does), but if you dig phildickian thrillers you may dig this.

Looks and sounds amazing. But it's no Cube

A pretty good, if slightly confusing, thriller.