Review of Singularity (2017) by Michael C — 16 Jun 2018
Singularity has an interesting history -- you can find out more about it on Wikipedia, but that history is primarily for the cinema buff. My own interest in film is that of story (it's better to get that particular fact out in the open.).
As with many Dystopian films, the backstory is the background for what would be opening credits if there were any. The backstory here is borrowed from earlier science fiction novels: the computer (Chronos) that saves mankind from itself by trying to eradicate the main cause of mankind's problems: mankind, itself. Nothing new here, story-wise, but the presentation is good, with nice cinematography, exploding buildings, and a few moments of human response designed to lay the groundwork for the actual narrative.
And then we are a century in the future where we quickly see the four figures that drive the movie: Andrew (played by Julian Schaffner) and Calia (Carmen Argenziano) playing a character that will most bring to mind the heroine of the Hunger Games trilogy; Elias (John Cusack) plays the corporate CEO who initiated Chronos; and Julian Schaffner is Andrew Davis (a sort of partner to Elias). These four characters are placed on the chessboard of real-vs-cyber reality immediately. The rest of the story is about how the game is played out.
Filmed against the wonderful, lush landscapes of the Czech Republic and Switzerland, we are presented with a number of genre-typical dramatic episodes, many of which work out differently than expected.
The major theme is the search for Aurora, the now legendary city of sanctuary for humans in a world controlled by computers and robots, a search by both human and machine. To say more would be unfair. It is sufficient to know that there are twists, both expected and unexpected, and the fun part for the viewer is to figure out how he or she will be tricked.
Oh, and there is a decent love story to boot.
Satisfaction not guaranteed. I liked it; a preteen who watched it at the same time said "it was unsatisfying.".
This review of Singularity (2017) was written by Michael C on 16 Jun 2018.
Singularity has generally received negative reviews.
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