''Hardwired'' is a 2009 American

science fiction action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Ernie Barbarash Ernie Barbarash is a film director, screenwriter and producer, perhaps best known as co-producer of the films ''American Psycho 2'', '' Cube 2: Hypercube'', ''Prisoner of Love'', ''The First 9½ Weeks'' and '' The Cat's Meow''. Barbarash also wro ...

, written by Mike Hurst, and starring

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appear ...

and

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

. The film was released on

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

in the United States on November 3, 2009.

Plot

In the not-too-distant future where corporations control nearly every aspect of human life, a man named Luke Gibson is involved in a car accident that claims the life of his wife and their unborn child. Luke has severe brain damage, but Hope Corporation agrees to implant a chip into his brain to save his life. He discovers that this chip also constantly sends advertisements until either the person obtains the product, or they go insane. While trying to figure out why they did this to him and who he is, he finds out that the chip is a test product with a fail-safe that could kill him. He succumbs to the effects but the Corporation fears that their test might be discovered, and they decide to activate the

fail-safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safe ...

. Just before it goes off, a group of underground

hackers A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

led by Hal and "Keyboard" hack into the chip and save his life. After using the chip to guide him away from Hope Corp. pursuers, they agree to try to help him remember who he is in exchange for assisting in their fight against Hope Corp. They show him that his accident was no accident but actually planned by Hope Corp. so they could use him as a test subject. He agrees to help but is captured during the attempt and taken to a facility controlled by Hope Corp. Luke, with the help of Punk Red and Punk Blue, manages to fight his way to the leader of the project, Virgil Kirkhill. Virgil is killed after a short confrontation, and Luke escapes. He meets up with "Red" and "Blue" (the only remaining members of the underground group). Together they vow to continue the fight until Hope Corporation is destroyed.

Cast

as Luke Gibson *

as Virgil Kirkhill *

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters. E ...

as Hal *

Tatiana Maslany Tatiana Gabriele Maslany ( ; born September 22, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science fiction thriller television series ''Orphan Black'' (2013–2017), which won her a Primetime Emmy ...

as Punk Red * Eric Breker as Robert Drake *

Juan Riedinger Juan Riedinger is a Canadian actor. On television, he portrayed Rufus in the CBC television series ''The Romeo Section'' and Carlos Lehder in the Netflix series '' Narcos''. Other roles he played in television include Dodger in The CW series '' ...

as Punk Blue * Chad Krowchuk as Keyboard *

Terry Chen Terry Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. Early life Chen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to Taiwanese and Chinese parents originating from Taiwan (father) and mainland China (mother). After primary and secondary ...

as Carter Burke *

Hiro Kanagawa is a Japanese-Canadian actor and playwright based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has appeared in numerous high-profile films and television series shot in the Vancouver area, including '' Smallville'', '' Caprica'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Man i ...

as Dr. Steckler *

Rachel Luttrell Rachel Zawadi Luttrell (born 19 January 1971) is a Tanzanian-Canadian actress best known for her role as Teyla Emmagan, an Athosian warrior leader on '' Stargate Atlantis''. Early life Luttrell was born 19 January 1971, in Dar Es Salaam, Ta ...

as Candace *

Donny Lucas Donald James "Donny" Lucas is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for voicing Disco Kid in '' Punch Out!!'', Zed in ''League of Legends'', Mr. Fix in '' Iron Man: Armored Adventures'', and the Lucius Fox A.I. in ''Batwoman''. Early ...

as Bennett * Ali Liebert as Catalina Jones * Monica Mustelier as Veronica "Ronnie" Gibson * Julius Chapple as Lewis * Sunita Prasad as Nurse Price *

Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millenn ...

as Hope (Uncredited: Henriksen appears only in a still frame at the end of the film and the still is taken from an episode of the television show ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

''.)

Production

Ironside was originally offered Kilmer's role, Virgil Kirkhill, but he declined, as he wanted to stretch his acting beyond playing imposing antagonists. Ironside said that he was originally drawn to the script based on the ''

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

''-style themes.

Reception

David Nusair of ReelFilm panned the film, stating, "''Hardwired'' inevitably establishes itself as just another sloppy, run-of-the-mill direct-to-video actioner – with Cuba Gooding Jr's presence in the central role ultimately more sad than anything else." Scifi Movie Page also negatively reviewed the movie, writing that "Hardwired is cheesy, seriously cheesy." Steve Power of DVD Verdict wrote, "Amazingly, ''Hardwired'' isn't completely terrible."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardwired (Film) 2009 films 2009 science fiction action films American science fiction action films Cyberpunk films Films about advertising Films about computing American films about revenge Films set in British Columbia Films set in the future Films shot in Vancouver Holography in films Films directed by Ernie Barbarash 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language science fiction action films