A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
01/10/2002 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
Pub: Warner Brothers S021330. 140 minutes. Price: £10.99 (UK) - may vary so shop around. Stars: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson and William Hurt. Check out website: www.warnerbros.co.uk
and www.AI-Artificialintelligence.co.uk
First, a confession. I have yet to
read Brian Aldiss' original short story, 'Super Toys Last All Summer
Long', this film was based on but as interviews have indicated that
original producer, the late Stanley Kubrick, and current director,
Steven Spielberg, have moved it away from it's source material,
this film can be treated as an entity all to itself.
The reality is set in the near-future where androids or 'mechas'
are advancing in development all the time and yesterday's models
are chucked out when damaged as the latest models replace them.
 One
of the corporations creates a boy robot, David (actor Haley Osment),
who is capable of giving love to foster parents, the Swintons, who's
real son had to be put in suspended animation because of a terminal
illness and wanted a substitute.
Everything goes fine until a cure for their real son is discovered
and he's re-introduced to the family. From there onwards, things
begin to turn ugly as David becomes a victim of sibling rivalry
and affection for the parents.
Ultimately, after David nearly drowns the real son, it is the mother
who drives him and his robotic 'Teddy' far away and leaves him to
find his own fate rather than see his dissembled by the corporation.
David is convinced that his 'mother' would prefer to have him become
a real boy - having read Pinocchio - and is determined to find the
Blue Fairy who will perform the magic on him. [Make a point of rule,
never to let androids read or mis-interpret the wrong books!]
Gigolo Joe (actor Jude Law) meanwhile out to, er, service one of
his female patrons discovers her dead and realising that he's about
to be blamed for it, removes his identification label and goes on
the run. Both Joe and David are part of a group of damaged androids
and robots that are picked up as part of a destruction mecha derby.
This is probably the cruellest aspect of the film where various
mechas are shot from cannons or melted in acid for the pleasure
of a screaming audience's enjoyment. Obviously, not everyone appreciates
having mechas around.
However, it is the sight of David, held by Joe, about to be bathed
in acid pleading for his life that turns the crowd against the boss
of the show. In the confusion, David, Joe and Teddy escape and head
for a town where the gigolo thinks they can find protection.
To go further is going to give the entire plot away. Suffice to
say that Spielberg knows what emotional strings to pull and turns
the story into a real weepy at the end. How much of the emotional
input was in the work that Kubrick through screenwriter Ian Watson
left after his death for Spielberg is hard to say.
Certainly, if ever there's a book on the film available, it will
certainly be worth checking out just for the behind scenes of the
special effects, which were a joy to watch. The fact that it was
held together with a strong story didn't hurt it much at all.
I've read some of the comparisons of the 'Pinocchio' theme to Spielberg's
earlier film, 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' but there it
was only a motif. It's only really come together in this film. Whether
an android or mecha would really want to be human is something we'd
have to see should our technology ever become so advanced as depicted
here.
It's an old SF theme. Certainly the end sequence suggests that
androids will be the only thing left of our culture in the distant
future. I suppose it depends on how much a walking computer - which
is essentially all a robot or android really is - would like to
be like his makers.
Considering that they are superior in so many ways to weak flesh,
this reviewer is surprised that such an option would occur. No doubt
some other scriptwriter or director will want to explore the alternative
some time.
In the meantime, go out and enjoy this movie for what it is. It's
worth watching.
GF Willmetts
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