Vice (2015 film)
Vice | |
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Directed by | Brian A. Miller |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Yaron Levy |
Edited by | Rick Shaine |
Music by | Hybrid |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Vice is a 2015 American direct-to-video science fiction action film directed by Brian A. Miller and written by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore. The film stars Thomas Jane, Bruce Willis and Ambyr Childers.
The plot follows Julian Michaels (Willis), who has opened a resort with questionable ethics, where people can act out their fiercest fantasies with the resort's androids. When one of the androids, Kelly (Childers), becomes sentient and escapes, she joins forces with police detective Roy Tedeschi (Jane) to bring Michaels down and destroy his resort.
Plot
A futuristic resort, Vice, offers visitors the opportunity to live out all their fantasies, no matter how violent or deviant, on sophisticated androids (referred to as "artificials"). Every day, the androids' memories are reset, and any damage sustained is scheduled for repair. To maintain the illusion that the androids are real, they are programmed to have behavioral responses such as emotions and believe themselves to be human. Kelly, a gynoid bartender, believes herself to be on the last day of her job. After meeting Evan, a friendly visitor who encourages her to follow her dreams, she and her friend Melissa, also a gynoid, are brutally killed by a different visitor. At the same time, Detective Roy Tedeschi arrests a rapist at the resort as he sexually assaults one of the androids. Tedeschi's captain orders him to stay away from Vice and only arrest its patrons after they leave, as Vice provides massive tax revenue for the city. Tedeschi believes that visitors to Vice become desensitized to violence and rape, pointing to the man he arrested as proof, and suspects that his department is taking bribes from the resort. As Tedeschi storms out, he vows to stop Vice.
Vice CEO Julian Michaels orders Kelly immediately reactivated, as important clients are scheduled to arrive soon. Soon after, she experiences random flashbacks, and she is recalled. An engineer explains that her memories can not truly be deleted, only made inaccessible. To stop her from having flashbacks, he must first bring all her memories to the forefront. Alarmed by the trauma of reliving all her deaths and sexual assaults, Kelly breaks free of her restraints before her memories can be reset. Security forces chase her through the resort, but she escapes into the outside city. There, she learns the truth about Vice and herself. Michaels orders a security team, lead by Chris, to quietly reacquire her through any means necessary. Michaels plans to expand the use of androids to military and commercial use once they have become more socially acceptable. Believing a loose android could jeopardize this, he covers up the escape and blames the resort's brief shutdown on a terrorist attack.
Tedeschi becomes suspicious and angers his captain when he confronts Michaels. Ordered again to stay away from Vice, Tedeschi is assigned to a series of homicides apparently performed by a professional mercenary. Unknown to Tedeschi or his captain, this is Chris' work as he attempts to recapture Kelly and kills anyone who gets in his way. After evading Chris, Kelly visits an abandoned church she has seen in her dreams. There, she meets Evan again, who reveals himself as her creator. Evan created her in the image of his dead wife so he could spend more time with her. Michaels bought out his company. When Evan learned of Michaels' plans, he left but lost control of his research. Evan promises to help Kelly, but before they can leave, Tedeschi arrives, having realized that fingerprints left at a crime scene belong to Evan's dead wife. As Tedeschi attempts to arrest Evan, Kelly knocks him unconscious. Vice's security also track Kelly to the church; Evan and Kelly escape as Tedeschi and the security team open fire on each other.
Evan's friend James, a computer hacker, gives them new identities and passage out of the city. En route, Evan dies while protecting Kelly from more of Vice's thugs. Kelly takes up Tedeschi's offer to stay and shut down Vice. Returning to James, he gives them a virus that will shut down Vice and upgrades Kelly to give her advanced combat skills. After a makeover, Tedeschi and Kelly infiltrate Vice posing as a married couple. Kelly tracks down Michaels but fail-safe programming prevents her from harming him. However, after Kelly is captured, Tedeschi forces a tech to load the virus. All of Vice's androids have their memories restored, and they start a rebellion, killing the visitors who previously brutalized them. Kelly then reveals that, despite wanting to kill Michaels, she is actually a decoy to distract Michaels and his guards for Tedeschi, and she is already aware of the fail-safe programming. Ignoring Kelly's taunting, Michaels begins a gunfight with Tedeschi which kills Chris. Kelly then frees herself and hands Chris' pistol to Tedeschi, who then uses it to kill Michaels. As Kelly and Melissa embrace outside the resort as the chaos continues, Michaels' eyes suddenly open.
Cast
- Thomas Jane[1] as Detective Roy Tedeschi
- Bruce Willis[2] as Julian Michaels
- Ambyr Childers[1] as Kelly
- Johnathon Schaech as Chris
- Bryan Greenberg as Evan Lund
- Ryan O'Nan as Officer Matthews
- Charlotte Kirk as Melissa
- Brett Granstaff as James
- Jesse Pruett as Officer Pullman
Production
Shooting began on April 3, 2014, in Mobile, Alabama.[3] A former Masonic temple, The Temple Downtown, was used for exterior shots of Evan's abandoned church home. Exterior shots representing the futuristic city are of and around Miami's downtown in South Florida.
Release
Vice was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 17, 2015. It grossed $1.3 million in US sales.[4]
Reception
The film has a 4% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews; the average rating is 2.4/10.[5] It also has a Metacritic score of 17 out of 100 based on 14 reviews.[6] Justin Chang of Variety called it a "relentlessly mediocre" film that "barely engages with its potential ideas beyond the most blandly expository, bullet-ridden level". Chang said Willis' against-type casting could have been fun, but Willis instead seems bored.[7] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote that the film "has absolutely nothing to recommend it",[8] and Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times called it "dystopian sci-fi for dummies".[9] In giving it a C rating, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club described it as "crummy and artless in a way that's intrinsically watchable". Vishnevetsky wrote that although Jane's acting is not believable, it is fun to watch the bizarre mannerisms, comparing it to Gary Busey's off-kilter performances.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b Kemp, Stuart (February 5, 2014). "Bruce Willis Sci-Fi Action Pic 'Vice' to Be Shopped to Buyers". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
- ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (January 21, 2014). "Bruce Willis To Star in Action Pic 'Vice', Teaming Again With Emmett / Furla / Oasis Films". deadline.com. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ "'Vice', starring Bruce Willis, filming in Mobile, Al this week". onlocationvacations.com. April 2, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ "Vice (2015)". The Numbers. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ^ "Vice". Rotten Tomatoes/Flixster. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
- ^ "Vice". Metacritic/CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ Chang, Justin (January 20, 2015). "Film Review: 'Vice'". Variety. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (January 15, 2015). "'Vice,' a Sci-Fi Thriller That Lacks Thrills". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ^ Abele, Robert (January 16, 2015). "Review 'Vice' is a cheap, unimaginative version of 'Blade Runner'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ^ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (January 15, 2015). "The bargain-bin sci-fi thriller Vice proves bad doesn't have to be boring". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
External links
- Vice at IMDb
- Vice at Rotten Tomatoes
- Vice at Metacritic
- Vice at the Internet Movie Firearms Database
- 2015 films
- 2015 direct-to-video films
- 2010s science fiction action films
- 2010s action thriller films
- American films
- American science fiction action films
- American action thriller films
- English-language films
- Dystopian films
- Films about cloning
- American films about revenge
- Films set in the United States
- Films shot in Mobile, Alabama
- Films shot in Alabama
- Android (robot) films
- MoviePass Films films
- Lions Gate Entertainment films
- Films about rape
- Malware in fiction
- Police misconduct in fiction