Two Decades and worth the wait! (A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2 DVDs))

Member Name: Welshlad

Product:	A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2 DVDs)
Date:	17/07/01 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Grace, Style, Wonderful!

Disadvantages: ?

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence


AI is a movie made by probably the most successful director of all time - Steven Spielberg, and dedicated to one that is idolised (and many felt would have also have held such stature) - one Stanley Kubrick, who sadly died after making the movie 'eyes wide shut'.

This collaboration is the product of the Kubrick vision and imagination that detailed a movie called Artificial Intelligence that he never got to make. However, the role of director was undertaken by Spielberg, and amid much anticipation here it is!

Ever since Kubrick began work on what many believed to be an over-ambitious project such as this, people held their breaths for its release, but as time progressed the belief that Kubrick would never finish the film became more of a harsh reality than a rumour, ultimately realising the most tragic correctness possible. Despite this, much work on the film was complete, and the Kubrick touch in the movie is evident for all to admire, something that undoubtedly benefits the film, but there are also areas of the film that scream Spielberg. Now while the mix of two distinctly different styles (after all, few come close to the unique and imaginative Kubrick style of film-making) may sound like a 'mish mash' of a movie, it works incredibly well, and credit goes to Spielberg (not my favourite director by any means) for taking on a role such as this and completing the project with such aplomb.

The film itself commences with a narrated introduction, bringing the viewer up to speed on the current point in history. We see the film in a state of somewhat devastation, and it is hardly the world as we know it. Among other disasters, the earth's climate is changing rapidly, and the polar icecaps have melted leaving many of the worlds major cities under water. Indeed, the world is very different and somewhat un-recognisable.
The current trends of mankind (almost like the current Fasci
nation with the new Robotic dogs if you like!) is one of robotic children, and a pioneering company from the USA (where else?) called Cybertronics is that the forefront of this technology, with a prototype of a child-robot they believe will show such advanced AI that it will express the same characteristics, including emotions as a normal child would towards its environment and above all relations.

Indeed, the great change the world has endured now means a massive advance in medical science, and while many 'diseases' and illnesses still remain uncured, they no longer are terminal, as techniques are now commonplace that allow an individual to be encapsulated or frozen until a cure becomes available, almost freezing them in time until a point arrives where they can be saved.
This is the Scenario in which we join one of the scientists at the mega-corporation CyberTronics, one Henry Winton (played by Sam Robards) who's son is currently frozen as described above to save his life from a premature end due to a fatal terminal illness His wife is still grieving badly for her son who she has in effect lost (albeit temporarily).
In a vague attempt to consolidate his wife, Winton brings home a pilot version of the child robots he has had a hand in developing, and hopes this will help take away some of the pain from his Wife Monica (Francis O'Connor) by giving her a replacement of some kind.

While unwilling to condone the idea initially, she grows on the concept, and while she refuses to care for the 'child' as she would have had it have been her biological son, she does accept him into her household, but a slight resentment exists. This soon vanishes, and she grows to love the child more and more - to a point that she becomes almost as reliant on the child as the child would be on her.
This boy names David (Haley Joel Osmant) does everything a real child would, and soon becomes the light of his new mothers life, whereby sh
e finally gives in and accepts the child as her own. When she 'activates' the young lad (some strange procedure to do with the back of the neck), he is officially the son of Monica, and behaves even more like a child of hers, calling her Mum and relying upon her for everything a normal boy would.

So real and artificially intelligent is David that he yearns of being a 'real' person and wants to be a real son to Monica more than anything, and this is where the rather ironic tie-in with the Pinocchio story occurs. In order to achieve this realisation, David believes he must find a Fairy (a blue fairy to remain consistent) that will make his wish come true, and this is where the film really starts to taken on its primary direction.
Setting out on a journey to realise his dream, David and few less-than-real friends embark upon a journey that they feel will make them what they want to be, and travel through many magical and mystical world in their pursuit. Meeting many different characters, both good and bad, this is a diverse and intelligent journey that shows the trials and tribulations they face very well.


For me, getting a chance to see this movie early on a visit to the states was a real treat, and after watching the movie it was more so! I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, it exhumed great warmth, showing grace and style like a true Kubrick film with all the imagination and freshness we would expect from such a film genius. I was glued to the screen from start to finish, and the Kubrick influence is what makes the film just that little bit special.

The casting in this film is among the best I have seen for a few years. Haley Joel Osment certainly steals the show as David and deserves every bit of praise he gets. After watching him in the Sixth sense and wondering what performance the critics were ranting about (especially to achieve an Oscar Nomination), I seriously doubted his ability to carry the role in this movie,
but he surpassed all expectations and gave a performance far beyond his age! If he deserved an Oscar nomination for the Sixth Sense, then he deserves half a dozen for this role, and has completely changed my opinion of his acting credentials.
Make no mistake, the role of David and the realisation of his emotions and reactions along his quest was no easy task for the most experienced of actors, but for Osment to play the role as he did deserves extra special praise.
This performance is of course backed up by the others around him, O'Connor, Law, Chase, Hurt, Gleeson and all others carry their roles in spectacular fashion, some being their best work for some time.


It's hard to describe how AI made me feel - the storyline moved along nicely and never really stood still. The film had such great depth, the plot could easily have been made into a number of movies each taking a different path, and this depth in stratagem is down to the visualisation of Kubrick.
I would say that a good 75% of this film screams Stanley Kubrick, and while I'm not trying to in any way detract from Spielberg's work on this film, the Kubrick influence of the film is certainly where it excels. Although the exact cut-off point of is work is unclear, it is obvious that Spielberg produced the finale, and in true SS fashion is it quite remarkable, if out of tone slightly with the rest of the movie and its style. That said, it fits in well and ties the movie up nicely, but it lacks the flair finesse the film portrayed throughout the earlier stages of the film.

Overall, its fair to say that BOTH directors of this movie did an incredible job at producing a film of such grace and imagination it deserves every penny it takes at the box office, and I for one found the movie engaging and warming, with a style all of its own. Few films this year have left me with a sense of satisfaction in the way AI managed to, and when this starts to hit the shores in the
UK in the not too distant future, I would urge you to check it out and make your own decision on the film.

Directed By: Steven Speilberg
Written By: Stanley Kubrick and Steven Speilberg
Year: 2001
Main Cast: Hayley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, = William Hurt, Brendan GleesonSam Robards, Jake Thomas et al

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