Virtuosity is not the greatest movie around in terms of acting or dialogue but it is fun to watch. Whether there have been similar movies or not, Virtuosity is explosive when it comes to action and an awesome story. The plot itself wasn't sophisticated, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are a plethora of sudden turns in the story and, by the end, it will be hard to tell whether the movie is taking place in reality or virtual reality. Because of this, it makes the ending much more interesting.

Russell Crowe does a great job as Sid 6.7, the evil computer program and his virtual reality world is beautiful, a result of excellent computer graphics. And, since Sid is basically a part of a game, when he does escape into the real world, the audience is not just pulled along as Barnes (Sid) looks helplessly for him. In actuality, Sid plays games with Barnes until the final confrontation and, with Sid being able to regenerate himself, results in some interesting and original action sequences.

The prison scene in the beginning, unfortunately, detracted from the film. The scene where Barnes kills another inmate was put in just to make him look like a tough guy but actually makes it harder to tell whether he is an innocent cop or a dirt bag. He isn't a bad guy, of course, but that scene made him look like one; it was completely unnecessary.

Virtuosity is an awesome movie. It's fun to watch, though a little gory, and has enough high-tech action to satisfy you for a year.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.