Roy: You think that if people could commit any crime they could think of, they could get it out of their system?... These people get a taste, and they can't get enough.
A 2015 Science Fiction Direct to Video action film featuring a detective, Roy Tedeschi (Thomas Jane) who has to go up against the titular company and their CEO Julian Michaels (Bruce Willis) to stop their abuse of the "artificials" they use to entertain their guests and let them live out their darkest desires upon. Hampered by other police officers, who are being bribed by the Vice Corporation, Roy teams up with escaped artifical Kelly (Ambyr Childers) to finally put an end to the nefarious business.
This film provides examples of:
- Androids and Detectives: Roy the detective ends up teaming up with the artificial Kelly, both using their skills and knowledge to take down Vice.
- Bank Robbery: The Fake Action Prologue is a high-octane bank robbery that turns intro a Hostage Situation and then a Blast Out as the robbers shoot their way out through the cops.
- Big Bad: Julian is the head of the Vice Corporation and the one behind all the misery the artificials are put through.
- Car Cushion: While escaping from the sweeper team sent to pick her up, Kelly jumps off a parking garage and lands on the roof of a station wagon parked in the street. Being an android, she just picks herself up and keeps on running.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Julian is the founder and CEO of Vice and is more than willing to allow for horrific abuse of his artificials just to make a buck.
- Cowboy Cop: Detective Roy Tedeschi's captain orders him to stay away from Vice and only arrest its patrons after they leave, as Vice provides massive tax revenue for the city. Tedeschi believes that visitors to Vice become desensitized to violence and rape, pointing to the man he arrested as proof, and suspects that his department is taking bribes from the resort. As Tedeschi storms out, he vows to stop Vice.
- Cyberpunk: The film is set in a futuristic city and outside of the grounds on Vice, much of the city is shown to be in a rough, impoverished state, following the layout of the archetype.
- Delirious Misidentification: Evan is shot while protecting Kelly from more of Vice's thugs on the docks, and dies in her arms while mistakenly addressing her as "Michelle"; the name of his late wife for whom Kelly is a Replacement Goldfish.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Evan is shot while protecting Kelly from more of Vice's thugs on the docks, and dies in her arms while mistakenly addressing her as "Michelle".
- Dirty Cop: Much of the police department and even Roy's boss are in Julian's pocket.
- Do Androids Dream?: Although they are very much treated like second-class citizens at best and completely devoid of human rights at worst, the artificials posses human minds and feel emotions as anyone else. Kelly's realization about what Vice is doing comes from her escaping from their engineer while he's attempting to take away her memories.
- The End... Or Is It?: As Kelly and Melissa embrace outside the resort as the chaos continues, Michaels' eyes suddenly open.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The events of the film seem to encompass about 48 hours (although the City Noir setting makes it appear to be Always Night).
- Fake Action Prologue: Opens with a high-octane Bank Robbery that turns intro a Hostage Situation and then a Blast Out as the robbers shoot their way out through the cops. This is then revealed to be one of the fantasies being acted out in the Vice resort.
- Faux Affably Evil: When meeting with Roy, Julian holds up a smug facade and even when Roy points out the behaviours he allows basically amount to creating sociopaths, Julian just smiles and continues talking with his jovial tone.
- Final Solution: When Roy and Kelly upload the artificials memories of their abuse, causing them to attack Julian's guests, he simply decides to activate a kill switch and murder them all.
- Hardboiled Detective: Roy is a rough and tumble sort of fellow, gruffly spoken and solves the Vice case through a combination of gritty determination and his connections with people on the rougher end of town.
- Hostage Situation: The Fake Action Prologue is a high-octane Bank Robbery that turns intro a hostage situation and then a Blast Out as the robbers shoot their way out through the cops.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Detective Roy Tedeschi arrests a rapist at the resort as he sexually assaults one of the androids. The rapists points a gun at Tedeschi and pulls the trigger only for nothing to happen. Tedeschi then tells that the gun only works on 'residents' and knocks the rapist to the floor and cuffs him.
- Never Bring A Knife To A Gunfight: The bar patron who attempts to rape Kelly after she escapes from the resort is confronted by the heavily armed sweeper team hunting for her. He attempts to attack them armed only with a knife and is immediately gunned down by the team's submachine guns. When Roy is examining the crime scene later he makes a comment about 'bringing a knife to a gunfight'.
- One-Word Title
- The Place: Vice is the name of a futuristic resort which offers visitors the opportunity to live out all their fantasies, no matter how violent or deviant, on sophisticated androids.
- Play-Along Prisoner: Kelly tracks down Michaels, but fail-safe programming prevents her from harming him. However, after Kelly is captured, Tedeschi forces a tech to load the virus. All of Vice's androids have their memories restored, and they start a rebellion, killing the visitors who previously brutalized them. Kelly then reveals that, despite wanting to kill Michaels, she is actually a decoy to distract Michaels and his guards for Tedeschi, and she is already aware of the fail-safe programming. Ignoring Kelly's taunting, Michaels begins a gunfight with Tedeschi which kills Chris. Kelly then frees herself and hands Chris' pistol to Tedeschi, who then uses it to kill Michaels.
- Powers as Programs: James mentions to Robot Girl Kelly that he can 'upgrade' her by installing new skill packages into her. She initially refuses, but after Kelly takes up Tedeschi's offer to stay and shut down Vice, they visit James and Kelly is upgraded to possess advanced combat skills.
- Replacement Goldfish: After evading Chris, Kelly visits an abandoned church she has seen in her dreams. There, she meets Evan again, who reveals himself as her creator. Evan created her in the image of his dead wife so he could spend more time with her.
- Ridiculously Human Robot: The artificials themselves appear and even emote like human beings, no doubt in no small part due to the fact their bodies actually use human skin and organs.
- Robot Girl: The most prominent is Kelly, one of the main characters and an artificial who escapes from Vice's facilities. While appearing human, her insides are a mix of organic and mechanical parts.
- Sequel Hook: After everything looks like it has been settled and the artificials will be able to live in peace, the seemingly dead Julian's eyes snap open in the last scene.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Julian avoids the law by having such a lucrative business that he provides half of the city's tax revenue by the massive size of his profits.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Roy refuses to follow his boss' orders to leave the Vice corporation alone, as he believes justice needs to be served to the disgusting patrons and company.
- The Stoic: Roy keeps a grim face and rarely reacts to anything that goes on with much emotion, even as he gets engaged in shootouts.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Kelly takes up Tedeschi's offer to stay and shut down Vice. They visit James for help and receive a virus which is programmed to restore androids' erased memories, resulting in chaos and the closure of Vice. All of Vice's androids have their memories restored, and they start a rebellion, killing the visitors who previously brutalized them.
- Undercover as Lovers: After a makeover, Tedeschi and Kelly infiltrate Vice posing as a married couple.
- Villainous Rescue: When the sweeper team first catches up with Kelly after she escapes from the resort, she is being confronted by a man who is planning to rape her. The would-be rapist attempts to attack the heavily armed sweeper team with a knife, and is immediately gunned down. However, while the team is distracted, Kelly manages to escape.
