Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

Having jettisoned all but one of the original cast, this cynical sequel retreads familiar ground, provoking both disorientation and déjà vu. Simpleton gardener Jobe, last seen merging with the US phone system, has returned in physical form (instead of a virtual Jeff Fahey, we now have limbless Max Headroom star Frewer, who presumably came as a package with that show's director Farhad Mann). O'Brien's young, minor character Peter has been retained, however, as an identification figure for viewers who may buy the spin-off computer games. Nursed to health by Dr Cori Platt (Pouget), Jobe is then exploited by her evil boss Walker (Conway), who wants him to complete work on a powerful computer chip he's stolen from virtual reality genius Dr Benjamin Trace (Bergin). Walker plans to seize control of the Internet, but Jobe has grander ideas - to merge with, and become lord of, the virtual domain. But first he must crack the 'Egypt' code, incorporated into the chip by Trace to prevent such megalomaniac schemes. As before, almost nothing of significance takes place in cyberspace, the effects look disconcertingly artificial, and all trace of Stephen King's source story has been lost.