Review of A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) by Cameron J — 15 Jul 2011

"His love is real, but he's not." Shut up. That stupid tagline aside, I'm glad this got made, not just because someone needed to redeem the late, great Stanley Kubrick after that trash heap "Eyes Wide Shut", but because it shows us what Stanley Kubrick could have done in contemporary cinema. It is a mostly faithful adaptation of Kubrick's directorial style, but still with a notable dash of Spielberg. The combination is fine and the product it created is fascinating, though still far from flawless. The film suffers from a mild lack of development, slow spots, overdrawn points, some forced events, the occasional piece of bad dialogue, some cheesiness, inconsistencies, some disturbances, confusing points and sentimentality, especially at the end. One of the biggest flaws in the film is its science, which lacks sensible logic and explanation, leaving it rather offputting.

Still, through all of its flaws, the film is deep and impacting and although the lack of sensible logic damages my interest in the film's science, I was still rather fascinated by the subject. For this I have to thank the sharp directorial combination of Spielberg and the only physcially absent Kubrick, but before we discuss that, let's touch on the other strengths, such as fine cinematography, excellent production designs, a great score, strong main characters, charming side characters, (I love the heck out of that teddy bear) some good dialogue, effective comic relief, fine character chemistry, emotional resonanse, a progressive increase in compellingness and a deeply moving ending, sentimental though, it may be. Something that really needs to be touched upon is the visual effects, which are dazzling, well thought-out, brilliantly-executed and fun to watch. Of course, through all of this sci-fi mumbo-jumbo, there's still a genuinely compelling story carried by solid performances. Young Haley Joel Osment in particular gives you that feeling that he is a machine that longs to be something real. On top of that, he doesn't make it feel forced or too cheesy. His performance is another fine example of the potential and ability of the modern child performer.

Touching on the direction, the homage to Kubrick is palpable, as it Spielberg's presence. The film uses Kubrick's taste in innovative cinematography, as well as his gritty atmosphere. The sense of humor, use of narrative and taste in score in particular feels very Kubrick. Still, while you do feel Kubrick's style, you still feel a lot of Spielberg's style. His optimistic atmosphere, taste in cinematography and use of visual effects are all here. Spielberg's ability to pay a notable homage to Kubrick, but still retain his own directorial style is quite impressive and although there are flaws on both sides of the direction, the combination is smooth and interesting.

In the end, though it isn't the most explanatory or consistent sci-fi film, the dazzling technical value and fascinating, deeply compelling story carried by great performances and a slick fusion of Kubrick and Spielberg's directing talents make "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" both a statisfying throw back to the classics of the late, great Stanley Kubrick and a generally enjoyable stand-alone film.