 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough.
AI - Artificial Intelligence
Directed by Steven Spielberg
 If the acting seems robotic, that's because Ashley Scott and Jude Law are playing robots in this excellent sci-fi drama by Spielberg via Kubrick.
I don't know about you, but I often find Steven Spielberg's movies a little on the saccharine side, especially when there are children involved. (Of course there are exceptions which spring to mind, like Schindler's List, but you know what I mean…)
So I was anticipating the arrival of his latest effort AI - Artificial Intelligence, with pretty low expectations and a ho-hum attitude, despite the interesting concept and enthralling trailer). After all, it stars one of the most famous little boys in the world (and a fine actor to boot), Haley Joel Osment (of The Sixth Sense), as the adorable looking robot child. Even worse - horror of horrors - he is accompanied everywhere by a walking, talking teddy bear. (Remember the Ewoks - they were so cute they made me sick).
I need not have worried. This is one of the most captivating and imaginative films I've seen in a long time. Loosely based on the 1969 sci-fi story Supertoys last all Summer long by Brian Aldiss, AI was the dream project of director Stanley Kubrik until his untimely death in 1999, when his friend and confidant, Steven Spielberg, committed himself to bringing it to the screen.
And it's this combination of directorial styles - - the darker, more bleak Kubrik input counterbalancing Speilberg perfectly - that makes AI work. The film takes the audience on an amazing journey into the future that is both fascinating and frightening.
Believe me, this is no ET. I would not recommend taking children to see it.
The world of the future has shrunk with the melting of the ice caps (goodbye Ballina!) and as a result birth rates have been restricted and robots - known as 'mechas', short for mechanical - are commonplace.
They look like humans, act like humans and do everything humans want them to do. But Professor Hobby (William Hurt) wants more. He wants to create a child mecha that is able to love.
And so David (Osment) is 'born' and adopted by Monica (Aussie actress Frances O'Connor) and Henry Swinton (Sam Robards), whose own son, Martin (Jake Thomas), is cryogenically frozen awaiting a cure for his illness.
That's it! I'm not saying any more, except that this is one of the more memorable films of 2001 - visually breathtaking and superbly acted.
Watch for Jude Law as Gigolo Joe, a pleasure mecha who assures his clients that once they've been with him, they'll never want a 'real' man again! Something to look forward to girls?
Rating: 4 ½ stars
|
