KEEBLOG

The title characters in "Hackers" are such hip and brilliant young pirates that they can tamper with any computer system without breaking a sweat. What's more, they are skilled Rollerbladers loaded with eclectic fashion sense, and they can also act as crime-stopping detectives when the occasion demands. They're so clever, in fact, that some of us are thrilled to know that the actors in "Hackers" had to take a crash typing course to get through the film's keyboard scenes.

Remember when teen-agers who wanted to do something cool started rock-and-roll bands? Iain Softley does, and so he made "Backbeat," his resonant film about the Beatles' early days. But now Mr. Softley turns his attention to a different kind of counterculture, the one ruled by technology-mad nerds. They speak lovingly to their laptops. They write in the language of the person formerly known as Prince ("Leave B 4 U R expunged"). They show off posters and stickers bearing words like Hackstock. Hackstock? That must be the festival where everybody turns on their monitors and stays home.

The gadgety new world that these techno types inhabit has been attracting legitimate movie interest, even if it still hasn't proved gripping enough to sustain a whole film. So "Hackers" takes on the role of tour guide, just as "Virtuosity" plunged into virtual reality and "The Net" showed us how Sandra Bullock could use a computer to order pizza. "Hackers" not only shows off the lay of this land, but also tries some practical joking, since its young characters use their expertise to play tricks. Standing with a watch and an umbrella just as the high school's computer-run sprinkler system goes off "accidentally" that sort of thing.