Artificial Intelligence Movie Reviews
Echoes of Spielberg's Empire of the Sun are clearly heard as young David, shunned by his trial parents and tossed into an unfriendly world, is joined by fellow "mecha" Gigolo Joe (played with a dancer's agility by Jude Law) in his quest for a mother-and-child reunion. Parallels to Pinocchio intensify as David reaches "the end of the world" (a Manhattan flooded by melted polar ice caps), and a far-future epilogue propels A.I. into even deeper realms of wonder, even as it pulls Spielberg back to his comfort zone of sweetness and soothing sentiment. Some may lament the diffusion of Kubrick's original vision, but this is Spielberg's A.I. (complete with one of John Williams's finest scores), a film of astonishing technical wizardry that spans the spectrum of human emotions and offers just enough Kubrick to suggest that humanity's future is anything but guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon
What Was Steven Spielberg Thinking About?
proof that hollywood can actually do something worthwhilesome reviews have harped on the so called sappy ending. spielberg has indeed copped out in numerous films (the sitcom like scene that oprah winfry has in 'color purple' or the schindler break down scene in 'list') but not here. rather than the ending being sappy, it is actually painted in freudian darkness(the child in bed with his mommy, hoplessly oblivious to her impending death) and the film is an excellent mix of both kubrick's and spielberg's aesthetics.
(kubrick himself must have thought so, because, contrary to what's been said he did indeed feel spielberg should direct it). the film is also illuminatingly beautiful.
quite possibly it is the most beatiful and haunting of all spielberg's films.
jude law gives an award winning performance and deserved all the accolades he received (and deserved more).
the film proved too challenging to the american masses (suprise suprise) but in that sense it is true in spirit to the challenges that kubrick always demanded of audiences.
Truely Remarkable
Echoes of Spielberg's Empire of the Sun are clearly heard as young David, shunned by his trial parents and tossed into an unfriendly world, is joined by fellow "mecha" Gigolo Joe (played with a dancer's agility by Jude Law) in his quest for a mother-and-child reunion. Parallels to Pinocchio intensify as David reaches "the end of the world" (a Manhattan flooded by melted polar ice caps), and a far-future epilogue propels A.I. into even deeper realms of wonder, even as it pulls Spielberg back to his comfort zone of sweetness and soothing sentiment. Some may lament the diffusion of Kubrick's original vision, but this is Spielberg's A.I. (complete with one of John Williams's finest scores), a film of astonishing technical wizardry that spans the spectrum of human emotions and offers just enough Kubrick to suggest that humanity's future is anything but guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon
What Was Steven Spielberg Thinking About?I don't want to give away the whole story here, so let's just say that the little boy robot ends up, like an electronic Pinocchio, on a quest to become a real boy. The story is dumb, there are plot twists that make no sense at all (staying underwater for 2000 years while praying to the Blue Fairy to make him a real boy is one of them) and the acting performances of the adults are weak. The only consistently good thing about this movie is Haley Joel Osment's performance as the little boy robot. The special effects are good at times, but cheesy at other times.
It's a good thing that kid can act, or I would've had to give this a one-star rating.
proof that hollywood can actually do something worthwhilesome reviews have harped on the so called sappy ending. spielberg has indeed copped out in numerous films (the sitcom like scene that oprah winfry has in 'color purple' or the schindler break down scene in 'list') but not here. rather than the ending being sappy, it is actually painted in freudian darkness(the child in bed with his mommy, hoplessly oblivious to her impending death) and the film is an excellent mix of both kubrick's and spielberg's aesthetics.
(kubrick himself must have thought so, because, contrary to what's been said he did indeed feel spielberg should direct it). the film is also illuminatingly beautiful.
quite possibly it is the most beatiful and haunting of all spielberg's films.
jude law gives an award winning performance and deserved all the accolades he received (and deserved more).
the film proved too challenging to the american masses (suprise suprise) but in that sense it is true in spirit to the challenges that kubrick always demanded of audiences.
Truely Remarkable
I don't want to give away the whole story here, so let's just say that the little boy robot ends up, like an electronic Pinocchio, on a quest to become a real boy. The story is dumb, there are plot twists that make no sense at all (staying underwater for 2000 years while praying to the Blue Fairy to make him a real boy is one of them) and the acting performances of the adults are weak. The only consistently good thing about this movie is Haley Joel Osment's performance as the little boy robot. The special effects are good at times, but cheesy at other times.
It's a good thing that kid can act, or I would've had to give this a one-star rating.