Artificial Intelligence: Film Review - Essay Example

Artificial Intelligence: Film Review Starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson and William Hurt. Directed by Steven Spielberg. A Warner Bros. Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures release. USA (2001)Science Fiction, Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and violent images. Running time: 145 min. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the fusion of the two popular personalities in the movie industry-Steven Spielberg and Stanley Rubrick. Rubrick is considered as more intellectual filmmakers while Spielberg is the most commercial.

These qualities of these two personalities, instead of fusing to create an outstanding film, collided making the film neither sufficiently stimulating nor entertaining. AI is futuristic as it showcases the rapid advancement of technology facilitating the invention of mechas (robots). However, instead of featuring the sophistication of these machines the movie centered on human aspect-love. AI recounts the story of a mecha who is programmed to love its parents though the real theme is whether human beings can love mechas in return.

AI is set on an undetermined future when the earth has been ravaged by the greenhouse effect and coastal cities are underwater. These led to the scarcity of resources necessitating the population control. Each pregnancy is licensed and each family is required to have only one kid. In this picture, the Monica (O'Connor) and Henry (Robards) Swinton enters with their son Martin (Thomas) who is cryogenically frozen because of an untreatable disease. Thus, David (Osment) who is the brain child of Prof.

Hobby (Hurt) is adopted by the couple. Everything is going well when Martin got healed and has to get back to the family. Martin, when he returns home, is sneaky and disobedient, sarcastic and manipulative. Sibling rivalry, then, arises between the two children ending up with David leaving the family. This brings depression to the mecha who already loves his parents. The scene then changed into a world of fairytale similar to that of Pinocchio who wanted to find a way to become human. He took the journey to different places just to achieve his goal.

Together David and Joe's travels take them to the debauched Rouge City and Flesh Fare. These dark worlds are imaginatively created and the effects are at times unnervingly convincing. AI, though a movie about a kid is not a movie for kids because of the scenes at the end of the movie. In terms of technical aspect, the film is very impressive. It is irrefutable that the film has been allotted a huge budget. All of the effects are spectacular. The visual stimulation prevents boredom. Spielberg has really done a good job in directing the movie.

Another notable aspect of the film is the excellent acting by Osment. Osment readily transfers his emotion to his audience making them feel what he feels. However, the film is unsatisfactory as it did not answer the question it seemed to resolve. True enough, humans can love mechas but there are some circumstances which hindered their relationship. The movie is also heavily criticized as it somehow lacks the intellectual foundation as it became a fairytale at the end which mirrors the story of "Pinnochio" and the "Wizard of the Oz.

" Spielberg and Rubrick such have realized that presenting audience original ideas really count.