 Tagline: She's Cherry 2000 - a robotic woman that becomes a man's driving passion... Need a bounty hunter? She's your man. In the future, a man travels to the ends of the earth to find that the perfect woman is always under his nose. In this "fun" (Leonard Maltin) futuristic sci-fi adventure, Melanie Griffith is "delightful and unflappable" (Variety) as a futuristic bounty hunter on a mission to find a robot replicant of a rich man's short-circuited wife. When successful businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews, Fight Club) finds that his android wife, Cherry model 2000 (Pamela Gidley, The Maze), has blown a fuse, he hires sexy renegade tracker E. Johnson (Griffith) to find her exact duplicate. But as their journey to replace his perfect mate leads them into the treacherous and lawless region of The Zone, Treadwell learns the hard way that the perfect woman is made not of computer chips and diodes, but of real flesh and blood! Storyline: In the year 2017, a rich man travels to the ends of the earth to find that the perfect woman is always under his nose. When successful businessman Sam Treadwell finds that his android wife, Cherry model 2000 has blown a fuse, he hires sexy renegade tracker E. Johnson to find her exact duplicate. But as their journey to replace his perfect mate leads them into the treacherous and lawless region of The Zone, Treadwell learns the hard way that the perfect woman is made not of computer chips and diodes, but of real flesh and blood! Written by Ron Borgstedt Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Brian Orndorf, July 26, 2015 -- It doesn't take a detective to figure out which decade gave birth to "Cherry 2000." It's a film about the hunt for a replacement sex robot, offering a post-apocalyptic setting that favors pastel outfits, RPGs and Uzis, and displays futuristic cars that drive on three wheels. The feature doesn't hide its production era very well, but it remains an engaging romp around the shattered society formula, with director Steve De Jarnatt ("Miracle Mile") using imaginative designs and a taste for stuntwork to bring "Cherry 2000" to life, despite an iffy premise that doesn't initially suggest a slam-bang actioner to come. There's encouraging personality to the movie, which isn't encumbered by a minimal budget, working out its own version of mayhem in the Nevada desert, with enough chases, shoot-outs, and explosions to keep the effort alert and, at times, wildly entertaining. In the year 2017, world order is being rebuilt. In major cities, society has transformed sex into a legal negotiation, with men turning to robots to satisfy their urges and ease their loneliness. For Anaheim resident Sam (David Andrews), time with Cherry 2000 (Pamela Gidley) has refreshed his life, permitting him romance in a dreary existence. When Cherry 2000 is exposed to water during a foamy make-out session, she fries out, leaving Sam without a replacement for his premiere model. Told that additional Cherries are located in Zone 7, a Nevada wasteland, Sam eventually hires Johnson (Melanie Griffith), a tracker capable of navigating such treacherous terrain, to help him into the heart of danger and pick up another robot. Sneaking into Zone 7, the pair gradually warms up to each other, finding help from Six-Fingered Jake (Ben Johnson) and threat from Lester (Tim Thomerson), a cult leader with a distaste for trackers, defending his tattered realm from trespassers. The miracle of "Cherry 2000" is how it manages to create a slice of this futuristic world without tripping over itself. De Jarnatt is determined to generate a sense of 2017 without the benefit of a juicy budget, looking to nifty design particulars to help with the illusion. It's fascinating directorial work, following De Jarnatt as he builds corners of future world Anaheim, a community thriving due to its recycling industry and buoyant night life, where the men of tomorrow seek out pleasures at local clubs. Neon glows and automobile designs try to "Jetsons" the movie up, but entrance into the work spaces and distractions of the city give "Cherry 2000" a visual identity, developed with idiosyncratic touches that display the legal proceedings required for humans to have sex with other humans, and there's the Cherry 2000 herself: a gorgeous blonde who delivers a level of intimacy with Sam that triggers his utter devotion to a machine. De Jarnatt has a vision for the effort that keeps it involving and surprising, even when the story can't quite come together as a consistent adventure, and banter leaves much to be desired. While it commences as a tale of a synthetic society, "Cherry 2000" eventually transforms into a western, with Sam visiting the fringe town of Glory Hole to hire a tracker. Lots of genre motifs and attitude enter the feature, recharging the production's batteries as it moves from ennui to action, finding Johnson's entrance backed by big guns and roaring engines, with the pair soon off to Zone 7 to retrieve a new robot. Characterization is built in the early going, as Johnson's frustrated with Sam's commitment to a machine while she leads a sheltered, harden life without love. There's no chemistry between Griffith and Andrews, but select moments work with limited performances, watching De Jarnatt show more interest in developing the duo as action heroes than tentative lovers. The gender twist on the lead roles also carries uniqueness, watching Sam take to the damsel-in-distress part, while Johnson is a gruff master blaster, mowing down enemies with authority. Sam and Johnson's drive into Zone 7 brings "Cherry 2000" into the thick of the hunt, with the invaders targeted by Lester and his band of heavily armed goons. Chases ensue, and often in expected places, with a mid-movie set piece taking place at the Hoover Dam, bestowing the production with bigness that helps to cover certain lapses in editing that confuse spatial relationships and firepower. The film actually looks fantastic, favoring craters in the Earth, sand-blasted ruins, and vertigo-inducing dam tunnels, while stunt work is superb, delivering proper smashmouth appeal to "Cherry 2000" as bodies are slapped around, often high above the ground. The plot promises a certain degree of absurdity, but De Jarnatt favors humor, not parody, taking the tale as seriously as possible, which permits Lester to be intimidating and the quest itself to retain some urgency. And when all else fails, the picture unloads with all the gunplay, shattered glass, and explosions a viewer could want. "Cherry 2000" offers a colorful supporting cast (Johnson is expectedly solid as an aging tracker) and a fluid pace. It also retains enough oddity with Lester's cult, which is a vicious band of outlaws who enjoy sandwiches and evening "Hokey Pokey" dances at their desert compound. Limitations remain in De Jarnatt's vision, but considering the story, "Cherry 2000" ends up a satisfying viewing experience with a real sense of adventure. Sure, silliness pops up on occasion, but there's spirit here that likely wouldn't have been found by a different filmmaker. De Jarnatt runs a relatively tight ship, with enough creativity and screen activity to hold attention. [CSW] -3.2- Miss the 1980s with its frizzed hair and cheesed plot lines? Watched every Bruce Campbell movie ten times and need a break? Cherry 2000 is Mad Max meets The Stepford Wives--with a bit of Blade Runner--or maybe Tank Girl meets Romancing the Stone (with gender roles reversed). Don't miss Laurence Fishburne as an attorney in a scene that is a supreme critique of today's sexual mores extrapolated into the future--where every aspect of an evening's encounter is contractually haggled out like fishmongers turned corporate sharks. Melanie Griffith is E. Johnson, a tough-as-nails tracker (yes, even with her monotone baby voice) who agrees to take him through the wastelands to find a replacement robot. Her rocket-fueled Mustang is to die for (if you don't chuckle to death first). Secondary characters such as the rumored-dead tracker Six-Fingered Jake (Ben Johnson) and the creepy survivalist alpha-male Lester (Tim Thomerson) are colorful and aptly played. The nightclub and Sky Ranch locations show an inventiveness--arguably either derivative or original but still inventive and therefore preferable to formulaic--too rarely seen in 1980s celluloid. And if you're wondering about the turkey sandwiches, I think they're an indictment of the robot women's vapidity--because of what is said after Lester "meets up with" another woman. The moral of the story is that real women drive hard, shoot hard, and love hard. Yes, Melanie Griffith is miscast as just such a woman--but it's also good cheesy fun to watch. Just remember Cherry 2000 is a cult movie and deservedly so but like Cherry herself, it's a little shallow at times and leaves the viewer wishing for more. In summary this is a weird sleeper sci-fi B-movie and maybe an unintentional work of genius. [V3.5-A3.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box. Cast Notes: David Andrews (Sam Treadwell), Jennifer Balgobin (Glory Hole Clerk), Marshall Bell (Bill), Harry Carey Jr. (Snappy Tom), Laurence Fishburne (Glu Glu Lawyer [as Larry Fishburne]), Pamela Gidley (Cherry 2000), Melanie Griffith (E. Johnson), Michael C. Gwynne (Slim), Brion James (Stacy), Ben Johnson (Six Fingered Jake), Jeff Levine (Marty), Jennifer Mayo (Randa), Cameron Milzer (Elaine / Ginger), Howard Swain (Jim Skeet), Jack Thibeau (Stubby Man). IMDb Rating (08/07/15): 5.4/10 from 6,284 users
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
