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Summary: (No Title)
Review: A recent film journal noted that Spielberg missed an opportunity with "A.I." to provide something other than a predictable 'Hollywood happy ending'. The inference was that Kubrick, had he directed the film, would have created a more realistic (if dispassionate and cynical) vision..and that this would be more true-to-life.It is difficult to be dispassionate about this film. Doubtless Kubrick would have created a different vision; I would have been curious to see it, but am frankly glad Spielberg made this particular film. A.I. is a retelling of "Pinnochio", but in its briefest form is a story about a boy whose deepest desire is to go home -- to be loved, understood, and from that perspective to have the world make sense. I believe that image, and the emotions surrounding it, are deeply woven into American culture. It's powerful because it is also personal. A number of critics, assessing Spielberg's creations as an artist and with their own ideas of what film as an art form should be, might dismiss this observation as unsophisticated. I couldn't care less. I tend to vote with my heart and my feet; I've seen A.I. tiwce. See this film.
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Summary: Worst Spilberg Movie EVER!!!
Review: I've seen Haley Joel Osment act well in this movie, but the movie itself is pure rubish, and the ending is really bad, I liked the movie up until he reached New York , this should have been the end of the movie, but NO, they had to fill it up with nonsense. I have to say it's a big waste of time to see this movie, despite the good visual effects and the enourmous talent of Haley, this movie is good enough to take a good long nap. Guess Spilberg's career is slowing down.
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Summary: EXTREMELY EMOTIONAL AND TOUCHING.
Review: Please... to all these people who criticize this film. If you don't like sad films, then of course you wont like this one. This is one the best spielberg's films since Schlinder's List. Very, very powerful in emotional content, the acting is very good (excellent from Haley's part) and the story takes so many twists that you keep on wondering how will it end. Now to all these people who didnt like it.. Ask yourselves, Don't you just keep on wishing this kid gets something in return, some loving for all the struggle he goes through? The beauty of this story is that are we human so selfish that a robot can eventually learn to love more than us? I think no human would go through what this kid did, and wait for so long and still unconditionally pursue the person he "Loves" I think that's the main message of this film, and is a very smart and interesting point that a lot of people may be missing. The only reason I am not giving 5 stars (which this film could have) is due to some inadequate scenes that cheapen the whole movie. Particularly the Flesh fair (which I would have omitted completely or at least made less disturbing) Overall I think this movie is worth much more than the 7 or 8 dollars you may pay for seeing it. Great Job Spielberg!!! (But please...no matter what, dont make a sequel!!!)
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Summary: Took a wrong turn
Review: ...I didn't really like this movie and thought it went in the wrong direction. However... I think it went sour after David escaped from the Flesh Fair. I think the movie would have been much more interesting to see David try to assimilate to human lifestyles or be on the run from humans or try to find real love. Even though he was programmed to love the family, I did't understand what made Monica so important, she seemed like a very one-dimensional character and I felt no connection or sympathy for her at any point...so in a sense David's journey seemed pointless to me. Anyway, I give this movie one star because Hayley Osmet did a wonderful acting job and then another job because the Teddy bear was a cute little character
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Summary: Speilberg's Best Movie with Kubrick's Spirit Intact
Review: Finally, a really intelligent movie by Stephen Speilberg that doesn't hammer at my heartstrings every three minutes on its way to blockbuster status. My friend Joyce and I saw this at a matinee and we were the only two people in the theater. Proof positive as far as I'm concerned that even the public noticed he had abandoned his usual overdose of schmaltz. Perhaps this is so good because it is a hybrid work, inherited by Speilberg as the late Stanley Kubrick's project. I found myself thinking throughout the film of many things but especially what it would be like to have an artificially created person, who was just like us, among us. Superb actors were used. Haley Joel Osmont, who may be the best child actor ever, is wonderful as the boy who simply wants to be loved by his mother, who wasn't really his mother but he doesn't know that. Jude Law is marvelous as a gigolo, who is also an artificial being, but you can tell his roots as a machine. There is a qualitative difference between the Law character and Osmont character on how machine-like they are. It is a heck of a directing and acting nuance. The settings are superb as are the aliens who come into the picture towards the end. Probably if Kubrick alone had made this film it would have been a lot more cynical. Also, probably if Speilberg hadn't had Kubrick's influence, this would have been a lot more sentimental and schmaltzy. By the two directorial giants coming together, the film itself benefitted by coming out just right.
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Summary: Very Thoughtful
Review: A lot of people told me this wasn't a good movie and it just dragged on and on and it was almost like three movies scrunched together. I happened to think it was excellent. First off, the visuals were stunning, everything looked completely real. Haley Joel Osment does an excellent job at being a robot. At first he is so robotic it is almost scary, but then you start to like him. I also loved Jude Law as Gigolo Joe, he was elegant in a way only he can be. Lastly, I think the character "Teddy" completely stole the show. He was a toy I wish I could have, and his voice was seemingly the voice of reason or from a completely amoral standpoint. All in all I thought it was a great movie.
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Summary: Not for the pigeon brained
Review: A pychologist named Cialdini referred to a phenomenon called "social proof" where ones opinions are dependent on what one thinks the majority believes. This has been put into use in media and advertising, ex. "4 out of 5 housewives..." and can be seen in the flock behavior of pigeons. In artificial life experiments it has been shown that only three rules are needed for artificial birds to exhibit flock behavior. 1. A clumping force that keeps the flock together; 2. An ability to match velocity so that the birds in the flock would move in the same speed; 3. A seperation force that prevents birds from getting too close to each other. Through this very simple programming, complex behaviors would result for ex. while approaching a mountain, the flock would seperate into two flocks and then rejoin on the other side. The following the herd tendency in human development has evolved for greater chance of survival but it has also been a great force in creating mass histeria and fascism as in Nazi Germany. In AI, many humans are shown to exhibit this behavior which seems to be a prime motivation towards their cruelty. So it is ironic that people read review to enable themselves to make an opinion of this film. In many cases, films that get bad reviews when they first come out, "Bladerunner" is an example, become classics as the audiences evolve to understand them. So why listen to reviews? Become more "humane" and watch the film with an open mind and heart. Afterall, all it wants is your unconditional love.
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Summary: Expectations
Review: This much anticipated project presented Speilberg with the daunting task of filling the masterful Stanley Kubrick's shoes in his pet project that was on the back burner for years. Speilberg does his best attempt at making a Kubrick film, which ends up being much better than most of the Hollywood duds that infiltrate the theaters. An ominous flavor runs throughout this film made greater by performances by Haley Joel Osmand and Jude Law. Also, the tremendous special effects add the the believability of the plot which takes place over the course of three thousand years. Although some scenes come across with the Kubrickian luster of years past, few scenes detract from the movies purpose and goal, including the cameo by Chris Rock. Although, never exactly deciding on a direction, the film is a refreshing change in todays movie market that makes the long theater time go by quickly. Even with a questionable addition of characters at the conclusion of the film, A.I. comes through as a contemporary classic.
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Summary: Makes you think...
Review: To enjoy this movie, the viewer must release his or her analytical mind for a moment, and see the film as what it is -- a fairy tale. In fact, the narrator tells this much like a Once Upon a Time story, although one of the future. In this fairy tale story of the future, humans ("orgas") are accustomed to human looking robots ("mechas") who can perform many functions without be bogged down with much of the bother of human servants (physical pain/discomfort or emotions of any kind). Some people are against this, since robots replace the work of humans, and seem to be taking over..as one mecha says (something like) "they made too many of us, too smart." A robot child, David, has been created which will expand the somewhat limited market and increase sales, while testing the line between orga and mecha. David will be able to fulfill the needs of childless couples (there are many in this future, since very few are approved to reproduce). David is "adopted" into a test family, where a couple's only child, Martin, is in the process of dying.Martin suddenly and inexplicably gets better, returns home and David is moved from surrogate son to fancy plaything, much like Martin's old teddy bear, Teddy. Eventually David is removed from the home because the father fears he will hurt Martin. Rather than trying to readjust or update the now unneeded mecha, David is taken to the woods by his beloved mother, and left there to fend for himself. He decides to hunt for the Blue Fairy from Pinnochio, believing she will make him a real boy, and his mother will then love him. Unfortunately, his first night in the woods he's captured by a group who runs a Flesh Fair. Humans who hate robots are entertained by watching the destruction of run down robots who have been discarded by their original owners, but have managed to patch themselves together, (much like Roman days events when Christians went against lions, or current television shows -- perhaps a combination of Wrestling and remote control toys destroying each other). David barely escapes with the help of Teddy (the toy Martin gave him) and Gigolo Joe, a mecha designed to please women. Gigolo Joe and David continue to search for the Blue Fairy, which leads them full circle and back to the place where David's creator lives -- a destroyed New York City. David finally finds the Blue Fairy in a submerged Coney Island display of Pinnochio, a real world land of make-believe and fantasy. There really is a fairy tale ending, though not necessarily the one we'd want or expect. A good movie -- the acting is excellent, the cinematography and special effects are wonderful, the music appropriate. It entertained and left thoughts lingering afterwards.
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Summary: Kubrick, You Touched Me from Your Grave
Review: Plot? But why a plot for we are setting it at this very moment. Acting? Barely, I called it living. Script? Ney, I call it vision. A vision set so far away that we can but only stare in humility. And dream.
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