Lack of good storyline.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

"The hottest sex, the coolest technology, the most extreme adventure you've ever experienced. Anything's possible in SHOCK, the ultimate reality challenge," according to the DVD sleeve description, "America's best player is being pulled in to the ultimate cyber-terror. The game's mastermind has stolen his identity, put him on the FBI's most wanted list, and is blackmailing him to take part in a REAL twisted plan of world destruction. With just hours left, can the code be broken to save the world from total annihilation?" The above synopsis is accurate, but the first sentence is extremely misleading.Chances are very good you will find neither the "coolest technology" nor the "extreme adventure" promised. As for the "hottest sex," forget it. There is, actually NO SEX in "Storm Watch" which was re-titled "Virtual Storm" then "Code Hunter" (the title, at least, keeps getting better). The cast is very good looking, especially lead actor Nick Cornish (as Nick Chase) and his main female co-star Vanessa Marcil (as Tess Woodward); really, they look more like models than computer geek and lady reporter.It's nice to see heroic "Highlander" star Adrian Paul (as "Neville") as the story's main villain, but his "AI" character dies on the vine. Wearing a succession of neon wigs, Bai Ling (as "Skylar") also drifts into irreverence. Tone-Loc and Coolio play non-musical roles. Of the others, programmer Scott Rinker (as Mason Neville Kemeny) is nicely cast and essays his characterization well. Bit player Adam Lieberman is outstanding as the hotel clerk. As company leader Richard Cox (as Richard Clark) says, "The proof is in the pudding." *** Code Hunter (5/1/02) Terry Cunningham ~ Nick Cornish, Vanessa Marcil, Adrian Paul, Scott Rinker

I was drawn to this film by the presence of Bai Ling, and she is fun to watch in a variety of colored wigs, but her role is actually very small (though pretty important to the plot). The main female part goes to Vanessa Marcil, who is utterly adorable and totally hot in her "librarian" look; in fact, the entire cast is competent, despite containing no A-listers. The film is fairly fast and fairly smart; near the end there is a big twist that I probably should have seen coming, but didn't. Of course its budget is limited and that affects the scale of its effects. But it never gets boring, and I wouldn't mind watching it again sometime. **1/2 out of 4.

Code hunter was really OK.No Bad acting to speak of,no outstanding acting either,decent special effects and editing.The Story was good enough to keep me watching and the writing was fine.In a nut shell this is a cyber espionage story..with a few twists.I liked Adrian Paul and he is OK in this,but he and Bai Ling were much better in that Vampire movie they did together.Still worth a watch in the Dollar rental section.If you want to buy it..look for it in the discount bin,it is where it belongs.

Grand to see a much simplified version of the basic principles of William Gibson's version of the Cyberpunk genre brought to life. Would have enjoyed more discourse between the two AI, but none the less I'm very happy to see this run it's course without ever targeting the lowest common denominator the way so many would be Cyberpunk contender films might. Also enjoyed the dialogue, the pacing, the use of the limited budget, and in all, the fact that this demonstrates that a film can be light and still be about character(s). A fun romp. Certainly not Matrix, but cool anyway. If nothing else, it proves that it's high time Neuromancer and Headcrash should be brought to the big screen. So I'd consider this a successful beta test.