 Hero: Jude Law
Expectations were high, perhaps unreasonably so, for A.I.（name of this movie）, the first - and only - movie to bear the monikers(nickname) of cinematic heavyweights(someone or something that has a lot of influence, status, or knowledge) Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg. Yet, while A.I. is consistently involving, and has moments of near-brilliance, it is far from a masterpiece. In fact, as the long-awaited "collaboration"( working together) of Kubrick and Spielberg, it ranks as something of a disappointment. Plus, the movie may end up falling short of the industry pundits'(experts) high box office predictions. A.I. should do sufficiently well to join the $100 million club, but it is unlikely to possess the clout necessary to outpace(surpass) a certain rampaging(rage) animated(lively) ogre(something that is very bad and causes a lot of problems).
A.I. is a science fiction re-interpretation of "Pinocchio" (a story the film frequently references) crossed with "Frankenstein"(something that someone has created but cannot control). Events take place in a futuristic setting(where someone/something is), where the rise of the oceans has swallowed up seaside cities like New York and Amsterdam, where New Jersey resembles(to be similar to) an Amazon rain forest, and where the sin-and-sex center of the planet is a place called Rouge City, which resides across the Delaware(a state of America) from New Jersey (perhaps this is what becomes of Philadelphia). This future, as imagined by Spielberg and his set designers, is every bit as awe-inspiring as what Ridley Scott brought to the screen in Blade Runner and what Luc Besson crafted for The Fifth Element. Rouge City is stunning, and the waterlogged ruins of Manhattan are hauntingly beautiful.
The story centers around David , a child substitute "mecha" who represents the first of his type - a synthetic(artificial) who can actually love. In this case, the object of his incompletely-understood emotion is his "mother", Monica Swinton. Monica's husband, Henry, who brought David home as a pilot project from his workplace, Cybertronics of New Jersey, is more wary of the robot child. And, when one of David's actions endangers Monica and Henry's natural son, Martin, Monica is forced to take David into the woods and "lose" him. He is quickly found by a group of anti-robot fanatics, and, while being held captive by them, he befriends Gigolo Joe, who becomes an invaluable ally in his escape.
Like the real-life science surrounding the development of Artificial Intelligence, the movie is top-heavy with moral and ethical questions. What is life and where is the line that divides sentience from a programmed response? If a robot can genuinely(honestly or in a sincere way) love a person, what responsibility does that person bear in return? How can an immortal(living forever) robot cope with outliving(live longer than) its organic(connected with the body's organs) creators? Writers from Mary Shelley to Isaac Asimov have been fascinated by these dilemmas. Perhaps Spielberg attempts too much with A.I. To some degree, by trying to tackle(handle) all of these issues, he fails to effectively present any of them. Plot threads(development of stories) are dropped at an alarming rate.
A.I. is an ambitious film that, when it misses its mark, does so because it strives(to make a lot of effort to achieve something) for so much. The script does not insult the audience's intelligence, and it gets us thinking about "big issues", such as love, life, god, and our place in the universe. It's unfortunate that as much thought didn't go into structuring the narrative as went into crafting the movie's thematic(about theme) content. And those who have come to equate(to consider something to be the same as something else) science fiction with action will be disappointed. A.I. is a drama with little in the way of adrenaline-boosting(exciting) sequences. Spielberg has consciously slowed things down, relying on viewers' curiosity about the ideas and identification with the characters to keep them involved in the proceedings.
So is A.I. a Kubrick movie or a Spielberg production? Since the film, which suffers from a case of split personality, can't seem to make up its mind, how are we supposed to? Perhaps the more relevant question is whether it's worth seeing. The answer is that, for all of its underdeveloped potential and truncated(made shorter) subplots, there's still enough of value in A.I. to make it a captivating(fascinating) experience.
Recommendation: It’s about the hot issue(ethical problem), but it cannot be ignored because maybe someday, we will have to face it. All of the foregoing are related to a masterpiece. Take it seriously but simply.
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