Virus 1999

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Read more

Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times: As long on adrenaline and special effects as it is short on genuine novelty and intellectual content. Read more

Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader: Until the diverting special effects take center stage, this story, about an alien intelligence that builds an army out of flesh and metal, pathetically exploits genre conventions without generating self-reference, camp, or thrills. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: An unpretentious, amusing thrill-a-minute sci-fi horror thriller / monster movie that plugs right into fears of a Y2K crisis. Read more

Paul Tatara, CNN.com: The monsters themselves are quite a bit less than frightening, most of them being little mechanical gadgets with spidery legs and not much resistance to machine-gun fire. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Your average winter cold follows a less predictable course. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Frankly, about 20 minutes into this dud, I was rooting for the alien beasties. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: 95 minutes of unrelieved tedium. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The last shot is an homage to The African Queen, a movie I earnestly recommend instead of this one. Read more

Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle: The dialogue tends toward the obvious, and the characters are constantly explaining what is happening to one another. Read more

Time Out: While he can fling together a competent action or special effects sequence, his handling of the plot and actors is strictly routine. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: A derivative sci-fi shocker that isn't likely to spark much interest beyond its target audience of undemanding genre fans. Read more