Rating: 
Summary: A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Review: The Wrong Gepetto.Spielberg has failed to make a persuasive, smart movie about robots and people because he can’t bear the idea that human beings are imperfect, that they abandon their children, that they break minds and bodies, sometimes for sport. There’s an excruciating scene in A.I., in which Monica leaves David in the woods, that gets at everything great and terrible about this movie. The scene is important on a number of counts — it shifts the film’s look from its dreamy naturalism to a nightmarish surrealism, and combines my Fathers aesthetic of cruelty and Spielberg’s aesthetic of bathos into a single devastating encounter. At that moment, as David screams out that primal, defining fear — Mommy, don’t leave me! — Spielberg doesn’t just terrify us, he peels back our skin. Few other directors have the power to move us so effectively, so viciously, and it’s a good guess that if my Father thought Spielberg could take on his project, it was because he saw the total control with which the younger man could not just manipulate our emotions, but force us to weep. Time and again with Spielberg, sentimentality is nothing other than a polite form of sadism. .... After proving himself a master of mean on the level of my Dad and Hitchcock, he takes David out of the woods and straight into a live-action, faithful retread of Disney’s Pinocchio. He spices it up with some sexual innuendo and a few tremors of violence, including a badly staged coliseum scene that’s derivative of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but without the frenzied erotic energy. Then he brings in Robin Williams (?). If you think it couldn’t get worse, think again. The last half-hour is such unadulterated kitsch — space aliens with British accents, lots of gauzy white light, John Williams’ merciless score — that it puts the film’s meta-story into savage relief: If Spielberg hoped to turn into a real artist with this film, ...he found the wrong Gepetto.
Rating:
Summary: A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Review: The Wrong Gepetto. Spielberg has failed to make a persuasive, smart movie about robots and people because he can't bear the idea that human beings are imperfect, that they abandon their children, that they break minds and bodies, sometimes for sport. There's an excruciating scene in A.I., in which Monica leaves David in the woods, that gets at everything great and terrible about this movie. The scene is important on a number of counts - it shifts the film's look from its dreamy naturalism to a nightmarish surrealism, and combines my Fathers aesthetic of cruelty and Spielberg's aesthetic of bathos into a single devastating encounter. At that moment, as David screams out that primal, defining fear - Mommy, don't leave me! - Spielberg doesn't just terrify us, he peels back our skin. Few other directors have the power to move us so effectively, so viciously, and it's a good guess that if my Father thought Spielberg could take on his project, it was because he saw the total control with which the younger man could not just manipulate our emotions, but force us to weep. Time and again with Spielberg, sentimentality is nothing other than a polite form of sadism. My father put A.I. on hold to make The Shining, but he rehired Aldiss after he saw (and admired) E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. He envisioned A.I. as a science-fiction story in the vein of Star Wars, E.T. set him on a different path. He once told me , "this time it wasn't Star Wars, it wasn't E.T. It was fucking Pinocchio! The Blue Fairy! He couldn't get rid of that Blue Fairy." Spielberg couldn't get rid of the Blue Fairy, either. After proving himself a master of mean on the level of my Dad and Hitchcock, he takes David out of the woods and straight into a live-action, faithful retread of Disney's Pinocchio. He spices it up with some sexual innuendo and a few tremors of violence, including a badly staged coliseum scene that's derivative of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but without the frenzied erotic energy. Then he brings in Robin Williams (?). If you think it couldn't get worse, think again. The last half-hour is such unadulterated kitsch - space aliens with British accents, lots of gauzy white light, John Williams' merciless score - that it puts the film's meta-story into savage relief: If Spielberg hoped to turn into a real artist with this film, in my father he found the wrong Gepetto.
Rating:
Summary: Dark, Disturbing, Disappointing Downer...and stunning
Review: A visually stunning beginning soon leads to a distortion of characters in service of this thinly vieled allegory about facism and dangers of technology under the tent of a familiar fairy tale. First third is interesting--4 Stars, second third is like Apocalypse Now meets Blade Runner and the World Wrestling Foundation, with exagerated characters behaving badly-- 2 stars, last third ET meets Frankenstein -- Minus 1 Star. Parents behave inconsistenly, children behave out of character, even passionate inventor seems disinterested in his most valued creation at a crucial moment. Also referred to by some as AI = "Another Ishtar" or "Artificial Ignorance." Released around July 4 it was referred to by one as a "Star Spangled Turkey." Rated PG13--definitely not for children with very disturbing scenes placing characters in threatening situations. Most human characters morally flawed. Cynical. My wife cried and was very upset for the rest of the day after seeing this. Not a family or date movie. A must for hard-core Sci-Fi fans--this one will be talked about. For those who appreciate the darkest moments of the best Sci-fi this may be for you. Some parts are inane (look for a balloon and motorcycles). Don't take anyone you care about to this until you have seen it once yourself. Not for the emotionally sensitive about children or motherhood. Some plot elements improbable and unscientific. I understand it is less upsetting the second time through. You will likely either love this or hate it. The ending takes a "campfire tale" twist and is fairly hard to connect to the rest of the movie. Long. 2 hours and 27 minutes. PS. Not kidding about not being for kids. See it yourself first. Good for considering the human condition-- not for fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie
Review: "A.I." is one of the best films of the year. It's a gutsy, inventive, and visionary Spielberg-ian take on a story by the late Stanley Kubrick. The story begins an uncredited narration that explains to us that greenhouse gases have melted the polar ice caps, thus flooding coastal cities such as Amsterdam, Venice, and New York. And no, this isn't a remake of Waterworld. In this cold future, mankind is busy creating life-like "mechas" that lack only emotion. That is, until Professor Hobby (William Hurt) discovers that by mapping neurological impulses or something to that effect, mechas can be designed and programmed to have feelings. 20 months later, an employee under Hobby brings home David, the first of these feeling mechas (Haley Joel Osment). Yadda yadda yadda, stuff happens, and after hearing "Pinnochio" as a bedtime story, David is left on his own to find the Blue Fairy and become a real boy. A lot of critics who dismissed this film are very biased, basically putting forth that "A.I." isn't a good movie because it it's neither vintage Spielberg nor vintage Kubrick. I actually found that the Spiel-brick formula makes it more intriguing and compelling. Even when there was an obvious stylistic conflict, the acting (I guarantee Haley Joel Osment will no longer be referred to as "the kid from 'The Sixth Sense'"), the script, and ASTONISHING production kept my eyes glued to the screen. The only other problem with the movie is that it doesn't quite know how where to end. There were three different times the movie could've ended. I found this distracting and it took away from the film's real ending. But despite its forgivable flaws, "A.I." is definitely the must-see movie of the summer.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: I go to the movies once a week. I consider myself a connoseur of good cinema. Nevertheless I can enjoy an action flick as much as the next guy. In the case of Artificial Intelligence, however the movie is much more than an adventure flick, or "The Adventures of David", the protagonist of the story. It really is the story of a boy who's looking for his "mother's" love. It touched me in such a primal way I was astonished.It goes to the core of our existence. The movie also speaks of the responsibility we have as human beings of taking care of the "things" for which we are responsible. To finalize this review, if Haley Joel Osment doesn't win the oscar on this one, he's being robbed blind. He should have gotten it for The Sixth Sense. I just can't undestand how a 12 year-old can master such a wide range of emotions with such mastery. The movie's 2 hours and 20 minutes long . It felt like 2 and a half minutes. Can't miss.Also visually stunning
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I didn't pay for my ticket.
Review: As movies go, I generaly like anything in the sci-fi genre. But this movie, no way. I am very glad that I didn't pay for my own ticket. By the end of the movie (which was about 40 minutes too long) I was praying that the cool little automated teddy bear (who was smarter than the boy) would produce some futuristic shotgun from one of his pockets (yes! teddy bears have pockets in the future) and put little annoying David out of our misery. Yes, I would be willing to say that David, the little futuristic pinochio, inspires the same sort of loathing in me as Wesley Crusher. If I had to file this movie, it would go under "Special effects don't make the movie". If you want good special effects, why not just save your money and watch some Babylon 5 at home on TV?
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie, bad ending
Review: The beginning and middle of this movie was incredible. Actually, the ending would have been great..if it ended. It was one of those movies that should have ended long before it did. Long movie as well..2.5 hours. Osment was and is an incredible actor. I think we will see great things from him in the future. Jude Law was incredible as ever.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Brilliant
Review: After watching this movie twice, I think I've got a good handle on it. It's a Kubrick film, directed by Speilberg, with an ammended Speilberg ending. Overall, a very good film. Osment is amazing again, and should receive a second Oscar nomination. Jude Law is also excellent. The pace, time, and overall feel of the movie are all Kubrick. There's Kubrick parts bringing out the worst in man and Speilberg parts bringing out the better. It's a long movie, but this really isn't a fault...some of the time was just used poorly. The "happy Speilberg ending" - which is not that happy anyway is quite long. This time should have been used to go deeper into other topics. I don't want to give the story away, but you'll see... It's not your typically lame effects-laden summer blockbuster. A good film, with a good story! A real novelty lately.
Rating:
Summary: Having Way Too Much Fun? See A.I. !!!
Review: This is an indescribably horrible movie. Many people think it is a masterpiece just because it was made by Steven Spielburg, but after sitting through those torturous 2 1/2 hours in the movie theater, I have come to conclude otherwise. A.I. is basically about a whining robot kid who acts like Pinocchio as he embarks on a quest to become a "real boy." Accompanied by a robot gigolo, he wanders the earth in search of a certain "blue fairy," whom he believes can transform him into a real boy. The story gets weirder by the minute; each new plot twist makes you more and more sorry that you parted with your hard-earned money to see this movie. The characters are annoying; the plot is strange and boring. However, if you are the type who can be moved to tears by a whining, robotic Pinocchio boy, or if you don't go to the movies to be entertained, then A.I. is a must-see. There was one good part about this movie, however: Robot boy's teddy bear, "Teddy." Teddy is a "super toy," an intelligent, talking, comical Teddy Bear who can run around and at least amuse you enough to keep you from walking out of the theater during this terrible movie.
Rating: 
Summary: a virtual bomb
Review: Steven Spielberg has been and will always be one of my favorite film maker. He seems to always choose topics that are cutting edge even before the general populace realizes it is cutting edge. This film was no exception. Stitch together the fantastic visions of Stanley Kubric and you've got what could potentially be...screen magic. Somewhere, however, between thought and action, the film looses something. It seems painfully diluted, both in story as well as aesthetic. Spielberg's excesses of ornament plus Kubric's masterful minimalism equals a movie that is excessively (obviously?) compromised. We discover this new world through the eyes of a child. Only this child is not a boy but a machine set out to become a boy. The story brought thought provoking ideas about man and machine, about consciousness and self-awareness, and the ongoing struggle of man and his intolerance to difference (or in this case - his own mirror image). However, no answers were offered, no ideas were resolved. Instead, we are taken on a roller coaster ride that took us higher and higher into the sky, but never let us drop. Never gave us the satisfaction of resolution. Sorry Steve, next time stick to the fairytales.
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