In Virtuosity, a devious criminal mind races to conquer cyberspace as a dedicated cop struggles to keep pace. That the cop in question is played by Denzel Washington, and that his adversary—played by Russell Crowe — is none other than SID 6.7, a rogue AI programmed with the personalities of the world’s most notorious serial killers, identifies the film immediately as a product of ’90s action cinema, though neither actor yet commanded the leading-man status that both would enjoy in subsequent years.
Instead, Brett Leonard’s slick and brutal follow-up to The Lawnmower Man is best remembered today (when it’s remembered, that is) for its then-innovative approach to integrating computer animation and visual effects with live-action, in service of another cautionary tale of virtual reality and its insidious allure. If you’ve never heard of Virtuosity, you’re not alone; far overshadowed by the release of The Matrix just four years later, the film languished in relative obscurity, given its high concept and even higher-wattage cast, as well as its remarkably prescient dramatization of artificial intelligence.
