-- Well, just popped in for a coffee and hey guess what - I wrote a review! Its been a while, but I...
-- Well, just popped in for a coffee and hey guess what - I wrote a review! Its been a while, but I think I've still got the hang of it....
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The new film from Steven Spielberg, A.I – Artificial Intelligence, is ‘E.T meets 2001’. Not just because of the death of Stanley Kubrick and Spielberg having to take over the project, but many aspects of this film ‘feel’ and ‘look’ familiar.
First the obvious one. Weird kid, Haley Joel Osment plays ‘David’ a revolutionary new ‘mecha’ – an extremely lifelike Robot like the millions that are on Earth in the 24th Century where this film is set. I’m very sorry, but this kid is annoying. Much like Macauley Culkin used to be. He played a very odd kid in ‘Sixth Sense’ and reprises the performance in many respects in this film.
The film’s plot is based loosely on ‘Pinocchio’. David (Osment) wants to be a REAL boy and although he’s been programmed to love, his Mummy, Monica (played by Frances O’Conner) cannot love him because she knows he’s not real. The couple who ‘adopt’ David, have another son, Martin and there is sibling rivalry between the two. Monica finds that the only thing left to do is to take David away and leave him in the wilderness – giving him tips on how not to be caught.
Then the film suddenly metamorphoses into something akin to ‘Blade Runner’, with the odd elements of ‘Mad Max’ thrown in. David is captured – along with many other ‘over the hill’ mechas, by the rednecks who put on the ‘Flesh Fair’ – some kind of oddball show/sport where humans get to see ‘machas’ ritually destroyed. Blown up, set on fire, burnt by acid – you name it….and it’s all in the name of 24th Century entertainment!. It’s here where the film hits it’s peak with the introduction of Jude Law as ‘Gigolo Joe’ – a mecha sex machine (Robbie Williams and then some!) – and a trip to ‘Rouge City’. Fantastic special effects create a cityscape not unlike that created for ‘Blade Runner’ or by Luc Bresson in the underrated ‘Fifth Element’.
We then accompany Gigolo Joe and David on a flight over a waterscape of New York, now underwater and a rather eery look at a city half destroyed. An unintentionally evocative and moving scene with the World Trade Centre Towers still in evidence. I wonder how many people will see that as some kind of prediction, when this film is evaluated in the future?
Jude Law really steals the show as his character. A cocky throwback to the Fred Astaire era. Always strutting, prancing, dancing and pouting. He’s a handsome guy – errr… machine - and doesn’t he just let you know. But he has charm, something that sadly the film, as a whole, lacks.
It is visually stunning throughout – of that there is no denying. But ultimately unsatisfying and a hellishly slowly drawn out ending. Just when you think “It’s over, How sad”, you are ‘treated’ to more. It becomes a pure indulgence as Spielberg struggles to pull the curtain down on a project that between them Kubrick and he had spent 20 years on getting to the screen.
I think this may be a film that will come to be appreciated more in years to come, but for me, having sat through this at the weekend, it is more indulgence than genius
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Production Year: 1945 - Drama - Director: David Lean - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
Production Year: 1999 - Drama - Director: Dick Maas - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, Francesca Brown
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
I loved this film which seemed to be set in three different stages didn't it? Teddy was my favourite character - what does that say?
katie.b 29.10.2001 00:36
good op. much better than mine on the same, but we are in agreement that this film did not work. shame too, i was really looking forward to it being a great hit. k
litebite 18.10.2001 21:51
I can't figure this film out. Did I like it or was it a mess? It's certainly more imaginative than most films, and deserves to be seen for that reason.
History will place an asterisk next toA.I.as the film Stanley Kubrickmighthave directed. ... more
But let the record also show that Kubrick--after developing this project for some 15 years--wanted Steven Spielberg to helm this astonishing sci-fi rendition ofPin...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
History will place an asterisk next toA.I.as the film Stanley Kubrickmighthave directed. ... more
But let the record also show that Kubrick--after developing this project for some 15 years--wanted Steven Spielberg to helm this astonishing sci-fi rendition ofPin...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Artificial Intelligence' is the story of David (Haley Joel Osment) the first mecha (a ... more
futuristic term for a mechanized human being) designed with the ability to love. A couple whose son is in a coma "adopts" David to help them recover from their loss....
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
A.I. - Artificial Intelligence, directed by Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park), explores the ... more
fine line between robots and humans, David (Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense), a young robotic boy, is the first android ever programmed to feel human emotion...
Advantages: Outstanding performances from Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment. Great special effects. Disadvantages: Childish storyline coupled with improper sentiment and very very poor ending..
![A.I. Artificial Intelligence [2001] - 2 disc set [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78527781.jpg "A.I. Artificial Intelligence [2001] - 2 disc set [DVD]")
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