A.I. : Artificial Intelligence

AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) starring Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Jude Law, and William Hurt.

Before...I have a deep love for this movie...well...all apart from the last 30 minutes of the film. Hopefully I will watch it this time and it will change my view of it...I am doubtful but who knows!

In the not-so-far future the polar ice caps have melted and the resulting raise of the ocean waters has drowned all the coastal cities of the world. Withdrawn to the interior of the continents, the human race keeps advancing, reaching to the point of creating realistic robots (called mechas) to serve him. One of the mecha-producing companies directors (Hurt) decides to build David, an artificial child which is the first to have real feelings. Henry Swinton's (Robards) family, a worker in the company, is selected to be the first family to own one. Monica (O'Connor) is the woman who adopted him as a substitute for her real son (Thomas), who remains in cryo-stasis, stricken by an incurable disease. David is living happily with Monica and her husband, but when their real son returns home after a cure is discovered, his life changes dramatically. David goes on the run after an accident and meets up with Gigolo Joe (Law), he and Joe go off to try and find out how make him a real boy.

My fiancée's view..."Really scary teddy bear. Bizarre role for Jude Law. All a bit too dark for me. Not looking forward to having to watch it again. ★★☆☆☆"

Where to start...the films problem persists to be the ending for me. There is not much that I can say about it without ruining the film to be honest. The majority of the film is dark and sinister, and this is what I love about it. Unfortunately, however, the ending is the Spielberg happy ending that people have come to expect. It is highly disappointing, especially as this was meant to be Stanley Kubrick's next film. Spielberg turned it from being a dark masterpiece into being clichéd and sickly sweet. Cut the last 30/40 minutes of the film out and you have perfection in my view...It should have been dark and Spielberg spoilt it, in my view.

The acting in the film is simply sublime, I repeatedly forgot that Law and Osment were actors and was completely convinced that they were robots...which is a very bizarre thing to say. Osment is incredible in his part, he is cold when he needs to be cold and warm when he needs to be warm. Back when it first came out Osment was billed as being the next big child actor, yet 8 years later and he still has to produce anything of any merit as an adult. Who knows he may still yet come up trumps...Law is also fantastic. His role in the film is magnificent, slick and stylish, he plays a Fred Astaire type gigolo and he is utterly convincing in this role. Whether this should be worrying or not, all I know is that Law is brilliant in this film.

Another brilliant thing about the film is that it, like many other Kubrick films (yes I know Spielberg directed it but I will always see it as Kubrickian in essence, apart from the end that is!!) it looks at topics that provoke debate. The film looks at some weighty philosophical questions: what does it mean to be real? What does it mean to love? Does being able to love make us real? And the real tough one: Is there a price to love? Although some people like to disconnect when they watch films, I think that every once in a while it is good to watch a film that truly makes you think and that sparks debate, and this is certainly one of those films!

Another thing that is truly impressive about this film is the CGI. Most of the time it blends so well that you question whether it is real or not. The Flesh Fair and Rouge City are two of the most impressive pieces of CGI I have seen, and that includes some of the recent films I have seen. Terminator 2 was groundbreaking in way of CGI and it is the same, in my view it is the exact same thing with AI. There are few films even now that come up to the technical genius of this film. It is simply sublime. The final act of the film, even though completely disjointed from the rest of the film has it's merits through the CGI. I cannot praise Spielberg, ILM and the Stan Winston Studio enough for their work. You may not have heard of the Stan Winston Studio, but they are the people that created all of the models and animatronics used on set. Simply stunning!

Usually I try and have 5 key points about the movie, but I feel I am starting to waffle in this revew so I am going to end it here. This film is TRULY remarkable and I love it, but it still comes down to the final act of the film. That is what ultimate takes away that star, yes it provokes debate and conversation about the film, but also in my eyes it ruins the original vision that Kubrick had of this film. If/when you watch it you can see at what point it should have ended in my view. Spielberg, it seems, needs to learn that sometimes it doesn't have to be the fairy tale happy ending. So for that reason AI gets...

★★★★☆