Replikator: Cloned to Kill (1994)
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(Foreign Titles)
Nomination Year: 2011
SYNOPSIS: In the future, the economy will have collapsed, unemployment will be rampant, and everybody will look like they escaped from an '80s music video (seriously -- even during the climactic final battle, I couldn't quite escape the feeling that Heart was about to walk out from behind an abandoned warehouse and start performing). Two corporations are working on perfecting the replicator, a technology that can duplicate any material, including human flesh. One is a small start-up working out of a garage, whose chief designer is a Paroled Hacker under the supervision of Ned Beatty (taking a break from playing an overweight, cynical detective on Homicide to play an overweight, cynical detective in this movie). The other is a giant, politically-connected megacorp working out of a fully-equipped laboratory, whose chief designer is Parolee's Ex-Girlfriend.
The megacorp learns the start-up is about to complete their replicator. With Ex-Girlfriend saying her replicator isn't yet ready, the megacorp launches a raid against their competitor, just as the replicator is being tested. The megacorp's goons kill everybody at the start-up except Parolee; but during the raid, the test is disrupted and the replicator creates a duplicate of Parolee, who kills the hit squad and then flees to let Parolee 1.0 take the rap. Parolee 2.0 then goes on a rampage which quickly makes him the most wanted man in the city -- he's mean to a stripper, steals a homeless man's dog, and kills a white guy dressed like Prince to steal his clothes (the replicator didn't manage to create an outfit for Parolee 2.0; or, apparently, a sense of fashion).
Realizing that these outrages can't be allowed to continue, and needing to clear his name, Parolee 1.0 goes on the hunt for Parolee 2.0. He does gain one ally when he manages to convince Ned that it's his evil twin that's committing these horrible crimes. Meanwhile, Parolee 2.0 ups the ante by killing the city's most famous hooker, ensuring that everybody is now out to get him. Everyone -- Parolee, replicant, Ned, Ex-Girlfriend, cops with mini-tanks, and villains -- converges on megacorp headquarters for an everybody-against-everybody shootout.
And, over the end credits, we finally get some '80s music. Alas, whoever the band is, they're no Heart.
The megacorp learns the start-up is about to complete their replicator. With Ex-Girlfriend saying her replicator isn't yet ready, the megacorp launches a raid against their competitor, just as the replicator is being tested. The megacorp's goons kill everybody at the start-up except Parolee; but during the raid, the test is disrupted and the replicator creates a duplicate of Parolee, who kills the hit squad and then flees to let Parolee 1.0 take the rap. Parolee 2.0 then goes on a rampage which quickly makes him the most wanted man in the city -- he's mean to a stripper, steals a homeless man's dog, and kills a white guy dressed like Prince to steal his clothes (the replicator didn't manage to create an outfit for Parolee 2.0; or, apparently, a sense of fashion).
Realizing that these outrages can't be allowed to continue, and needing to clear his name, Parolee 1.0 goes on the hunt for Parolee 2.0. He does gain one ally when he manages to convince Ned that it's his evil twin that's committing these horrible crimes. Meanwhile, Parolee 2.0 ups the ante by killing the city's most famous hooker, ensuring that everybody is now out to get him. Everyone -- Parolee, replicant, Ned, Ex-Girlfriend, cops with mini-tanks, and villains -- converges on megacorp headquarters for an everybody-against-everybody shootout.
And, over the end credits, we finally get some '80s music. Alas, whoever the band is, they're no Heart.
Greg Pearson
Philip Jackson
