Is Intelligence Artificial? (A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2 DVDs))

Name: marandina

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2 DVDs)
Date:	28/04/02 (174 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb special FX, Thoughtful screenplay, Awesome cast

Disadvantages: A little slow at times

Some things are meant to be. You are meant to be born, live a life and die. In between, in the natural order of things, you should by all rights have a mother and a father. In the time allotted, you should be able to develop a nurturing relationship with your parents, which will see you through into adult life. A.I. works on the classic premise of "what if?". In this case, what if a humanoid child that could love substituted the child? Moreover, what would happen if the human offspring returned to share the same parental home as the robot child? These issues only begin to graze the surface of a deep thinking movie.

I watched AI with a sense of excitement. It looked pretty good from the trailers so I duly hired the video and allowed a film with a great deal of depth to suffuse me in 2 hours 20 minutes of ethical debate.

---The cast---

Haley Joel Osment..David; Jude Law.. Gigolo Joe; Frances O'Connor(II)..Monica Swinton; Sam Robards..Henry Swinton; Jake Thomas.. Martin Swinton; William Hurt..Professor Allen Hobby; Ken Leung..Syatyoo-Sama; Clark Gregg.. Supernerd; Kevin Sussman..Supernerd; Tom Gallop..Supernerd; Eugene Osment..Supernerd; April Grace..Female Colleague; Matt Winston (I)..Executive; Sabrina Grdevich..Secretary Theo Greenly.

---Director---
Produced, directed and screenplay by the omnipresent Steven Speilberg although Stanley Kubrick did play a large part before his death. Ian Watson did also share in the screen story.

---A Premise---
Set in a futurescape where the oceans have risen and washed away whole cities, humankind has come to rely on android servants for all manner of servility. The opening scene is of William Hurt debating with other luminaries over the future of robotics. He asks the question "What if?"..."So what if we could build a robot that could love?" This establishes a pretext around which the rest of the script hangs.

Monica and Henry Swinton
are distraught parents. Their son Martin is gravely ill and kept in stasis until a cure can be found. Theirs is a loving relationship that needs to embody a nuclear family so Henry defies convention and brings home a robot boy. David represents the infraction and despite her initial doubts, Monica is taken by him and agrees to program him with the code that means that he can never be returned. The maternal bond slowly builds and the film slowly paints a mother-son bond against a tasteful canvas of playfulness and curiosity.

In a strange scene where David mimics a phone response, the news arrives that Martin has recovered and is coming home. It’s not long before the cuckoo and the human boy are embroiled in sibling dares that result in the parents deciding that David is a liability. Problem is that David can’t be returned to his originators. To do so would result in his destruction so, instead, Monica abandons him in some woods along with Teddy, a robotic teddy bear that once paraded as a super toy.

By now David has been made aware of the Pinocchio story and is convinced that it is possible to be made into a real boy in order to regain his mother’s love. He embarks on an adventure spanning hundreds of years in his search whilst, along the way, meeting up with the love robot Gigolo Joe who becomes his companion along with Teddy on their metaphorical yellow brick road.

---Performances---
The actual story is based on the renowned Sci-fi writer Brian Aldiss’ short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long". It is a convoluted adventure taking several twists and turns that keeps you guessing. Haley Joel Osment plays the android character in his usual immaculate manner. Famous for his role in "The Sixth Sense" Osment is becoming established for his method acting approach, which sees his career going from strength to strength. With no obvious visual embellishments to tell the viewer that he isn’
t human, Osment carries it off with an understated creation that he has clearly made his own. I found myself sympathising with him at every turn and the scene at the Flesh Fair where he gets released from a rather ignominious fate is touching. The screenplay certainly works over the parental desires in its audience with Osment’s seemingly angelic demeanour only serving to enhance the effect.

Probably my favourite part was taken by Jude Law. I thought he was brilliant in "The Talented Mr Ripley" and here again he plays his part with utter believability and panache. He is introduced to the story as mechanoid gigolo Joe whose sole purpose is to keep ladies happy. His ability to flick his neck allowing Blitz type romantic music to eschew his romance and a naïve, cheeky persona really get the audience to relate to the movie possibly for the first time following his introduction. Up until then the pace is rather slow, smothering any real opportunity for viewers to get too wrapped up in the characters.

The robot teddy seems to serve as a Jiminy cricket type of conscience although there are numerous parallels with Pinocchio in the film. David’s search for the Blue Fairy from the said story is almost paedic, enhanced along the way with a visit to Rouge City (Pleasure Island?) and an encounter with Dr Know voiced by Robin Williams. His is a cameo voice role in a sort of virtual Wizard of Oz who dispenses advice on all manner of questions for financial reward.

None of the other characters really get anything other than supporting roles. The principle figures early on in the story i.e. Martin, Monica and Henry only really serve to set the story up and give it a rationale to a thoughtful conclusion.

The musical score is by the prolific John Williams (ET and a whole host of other movies) giving you an insight into the kind of big budget involved with the film. As you'd expect, the score is spot on but then it is John W
illiams.

---A verdict---
Criticisms would be that the film is a little long. There seems to be opportunities to wrap the movie up in an appropriate finale before it actually does. It's almost as if there is a change of heart at some stage taking the movie in a different direction a la 2001:A Space Odyssey towards the end. The special effects are outstanding but if you are in for an Arnie S type of nuke’em type of effort then this isn’t it. The sets are simply stunning allowing seamless computer enhanced visualisation to bring your screen to life. The film plods a little early on but this does tee up the rest of the plot as the story is neatly woven together.

On the plus side then all of the things you would expect from a Speilberg creation with such a strong cast are here. What I liked most about the film was its exploration of issues fundamental to both now and the future. You can be forgiven for asking was David just a pet or treated as a real boy still after the return of Martin? The lifelong umbilical link is laid bare on a number of occasions as David’s single raison d’être is obvious and his real love for his mother apparent despite his mechanical status. The Flesh Fair at which hunted down, stray robots are ritualistically destroyed as a form of mass entertainment is analysed at a ponderous level with the obvious hatred of a section of the human population for robots brought home. There is a sense of redemption as the threatened destruction of David is dealt with. Ethical issues are examined in the screenplay and for those looking for more than just blatant in-your-face effects laden spectaculars then you will enjoy mulling over the moral dilemma facing Monica early on and the almost subliminal issue of man’s potential relationship with man-made creations.

Would I recommend this movie? Definitely yes but with the rider that the viewer is prepared to give it some thought and allow for a lengthy r
unning time that isn’t non-stop action from the first moment. I really enjoyed it but the dominant feel is one of sadness so you may need hankies at the ready. This film pulls you through a whole gamut of emotion so be prepared. A number of critics have made the observation that this movie will grow in stature over time. They are probably right.

Thanks for reading and have a great Sunday

Marandina

Notes
There is a dedicated website at www.AI-Artificialintelligence.co.uk

You can buy used copies of the video on Amazon from £8.49

The DVD retails at £19.99 on Amazon for a 2-disc set.

Alternatively, I hired the video for £3.50.

For those lucky enough to have DVD you can get the following extras:

Documentary on bringing A.I. to the screen Interviews

An in-depth look at the development and creation of the robots of A.I.

A behind-the-scenes visit to Stan Winston Studios with early footage of tests for "Teddy" and other robots Storyboard sequences Production drawings

Summary: