Review of A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) by Augustine H — 04 Aug 2013

When Stanley Kubrick meets Steven Spielberg, you can't help expecting a masterpiece coming along, especially when you are told that Kubrick himself has planned for that project for 17 years. Indeed, the visual effects are marvellous and the futuristic scenes can't deter me from reminding of Spielberg's sci-fis and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Kubrick's warning of feedbacks to human's over-reliance on scientific technology is justified and inherited by Spielberg's criticisms of human's selfishness and cold-bloodedness. However, Spielberg is far too ambitious to explore a chain of themes, such as greed, alienation, unsustainability of capitalism, rights, global warming, etc.

Indeed, the part concerning David's abandonment is quite touching, but afterwards the entire movie becomes piecemeal. Every theme is touched a little but lacks in-depth revelation. The outcome is that besides the glamorous Jude Law, the Ted-alike teddy bear and the dazzling future world, there is nothing much to take away.