Review of A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) by Luke M — 18 Apr 2012

This dystopian film follows the story of robotic child David (Haley Joel Osment), who is unique in his design. He his created by successful business Cybertronics. The young robot is unique as he is the only robot in the world who can feel love. 'Adopted' by Henry Swinton (Sam Robards), and his wife Monica (Frances O'Connor) he begins to experience through blind eyes the reality of his creation and position in the 22nd century. His adventure takes his through his gritty reality and tries to find away to become a 'Real boy'. Steven Spielberg tries to recreate the magic of E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind but sadly falls short on both respects.

Certainly this film is interesting if nothing more. The idea of having robots which could feel any degree of emotions certainly makes an individual think. In honesty this idea certainly strikes a cord with modern viewers, as modern technology is making headway regarding machines. Saying this the plot is quite weak. Not only does the film seem to go on forever, without making any real degree of sense. It seems to gradually head into unknown territory and in the end seems completely unrealistic. I do appreciate that the films core content and the fact it is a Sci-Fi film, but this doesn't give Spielberg any reason to make it confusing and long. The ending seems weird and strange and in addition long hauled and gradually loses its initial shock. Generally it does make somewhat sense but really I think the film would have been best as a much shorter film and this in turn could have helped to emit emotion and relevance of certain factors. In addition some characters plot lines are ignored and the lack of clarity results in many areas of the film becoming unclear or irrelevant. Also the story seems exceptionally depressing, endless upset and tragedy makes this film sad, really limited and more perfectly pitched emotion could have made this more poignant rather than just depressing.

Luckily this film is well written. Appropriate levels and development throughout helps to give way to certain elements. The film does seem logical in the time line sense but this doesn't mean it's perfect. The long periods of time within the movie is an ultimate distraction. It jumps from period to period and this in turn makes it difficult to have any form of feelings to any core characters. The construction and period of time which it is in, is certainly more relevant now. The main idea of humanity being wiped out due to our actions, makes the idea of the manufacturing of robots seem more relevant, especially as the film says it all, as robots don't consume any more resources than they need in manufacturing. However the idea of robots becoming more valuable and in turn replacing children and fellow people is certainly a chilling prospect. Without a doubt the main factors and plot within them certainly brings a large amount of prospect for thought and interest.

Certainly there isn't a problem with the acting. All actors in this film are wonderful and especially the youngest actor (Haley Joel Osment), plays his part perfectly. The classy robotic movements coming from additional character Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) is sharp and diverse. In addition the charming and funny naivety adds to the humour. Saying this some actors aren't used long enough to really be called main characters, for some reason the main characters keep being replaced and this in time limits my judgements on their acting. Luckily all acting is generally believable and of a good standard but possible improvements and clarity would be good for secondary characters, as their plot falters and become irrelevant.

Overall the good acting and everything is really well maintained. The robots are continuously strong and believable, where all other factors re well maintained and almost equally strong. In addition all actors maintain their standard throughout the film and in addition the strength, if not the clarity, of the film is equally maintained. Sadly the illogical and long plot is also maintained and sustained, although this really isn't a positive. Also the well developed characters and interesting visual effects are also maintained, as well as the main core point of the film, allows varied judgements to be initiated throughout this film.

Sadly believability isn't this film's strong point. The film seems really illogical and as I've mentioned endless. Although the core element is realistic the development and dragged on feel ruins this film's prospects. I would have enabled more clarity with this film and quite likely a shortened film would have been best. In addition more focus on the emotional attachment from robot to human would have been better and instead of adding many separate features, using a core principle and developing this in a better way would have improved this film.

Certainly all technical features: camera, direction, music and lighting are all relatively good. Clearly Steven Spielberg can't really be judged for this film. He does make a good effort to ensure the fluidity and to make it a classy and strong movie, although certain features are weak as I've mentioned but overall the trademark originality and interest makes it relatively good. Additionally the camera becomes a strong feature and personal viewing adds to the connection between some characters and the viewer. Saying this it's not always consistent and sometimes does become weak. Overall the weakest features are in music and lighting. The music doesn't really add much and little gems which are played, soon are overshadowed. As well as this the tragically depressing musical score, especially towards the end, makes this more upsetting than it ever needed to be. The lighting is equally depressing, with relatively dark and sinister sets been used. Overall little light is shown and really gives it a crucially sad tone, which makes this film feel awkward and difficult to enjoy.

Overall the theme and genres is that of Sci-Fi and clearly this gets mixed up with humanity and the effects of these are clear throughout the film. Relatively mixing these two factors are interesting but not necessarily complete. Logic seems to always over rule any true feelings for the characters and clearly this makes it seem unrealistic and relatively tragic. Saying this Steven Spielberg manages it to almost make it work but clearly even his genius can't fully stick these two opposing elements together.

The suspense overall is a little bit flat. really there is limited threat to the programme and the logical sense of the robots makes any attempt to instigate suspense completely fail. Generally as a Sci-Fi you would want something to hold your interest and clearly when the plot doesn't match the standard you would expect you would hope that suspense would ensure strong interest. Really the film could result into some viewers becoming bored and loosing their interest in the film and add this to the long and trailing plot sadly makes this quite weak.

Overall both the enjoyability and workability are around about equal. Generally the dark theme, long plot and weak suspense makes it difficult to get into. Added to this the film seems quite cold and clammy and in turn becomes really unpleasant to watch. Workability is also an issue, nothing completely works and really this is a shame from such a good director. Generally I was unimpressed by the lack of connectivity of certain factors and really noting worked together, whilst others worked just on their own, damaging the standard and integrity of this film.

Well if nothing else the special effects are impressive. Classy robots and classy animation makes the robots seem more real than anything else. Overall these effects are the best I've seen in a long time. They seem to work within themselves and careful movement and shiny foreheads easily differentiate the robots from the humans. All robots work and clearly when one robot gets damaged all of the humanity form the actors easily change into the harsh steel of these robots. Overall very impressive and strong robotic effects, if not slightly overused and do sometimes feel a bit too much.

Generally this film is good but really nothing more. Steven Spielberg seem to do a good job but really this is less than I would expect from him. Overall I'm disappointed by this film and really I would expect a lot more from a director of his standing. Although little gems are clearly put into this film, especially in the special effects but really it is too little to late. Saying this it is certainly memorable, although maybe for the clunky storyline and silly attempt at recreating earlier work. It is unique, as I've mentioned but really isn't uniquely brilliant. Generally this film is long, confusing, weak and strange and really is nothing compared to other works by this genius of a director.