Today was the first time I watched AI: Artificial Intelligence - a film review

I go into most things blind. I rarely read up on something before I delve right in. I find it helps to limit my judgement and temper my expectations. As much as I love SF, I'd never seen Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. I changed that today.

An employee of a company that makes robots and artificial intelligence brings home a child robot. The child is intended as comfort for the couple, who have a biological son held in suspended animation, due to a rare disease 'beyond our science'; the child robot is essentially a prototype, made for testing and is intended to be the first AI capable of love.

The film is presented with shots that linger on facial expressions longer than is normally comfortable. This helps to build a sense of unease, and awkwardness, particularly in the first part of the film. Glass is used as a metaphor for silicon, (fittingly) throughout, with images intersected and copied, hinting at the reproducibility of robots and AI.

The acting throughout is top quality, with stellar performances from Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment. This is important, as for the first half of the film, it is all about emotion, more so than the technological marvel of the boy.

We see Asimov's laws of robotics challenged, and harm coming to others through consequence of self-protection; and a thorough study on the non-advocates of 'mecha' through a demolition derby style carnival.

The soundtrack is non-intrusive; and the attention to detail in almost every set and its dressing is remarkable. It starts to get very, very good in the second part of the film. I was thoroughly impressed.

Without giving too much away about the ending, for those who haven't seen the film before, the story is complete and satisfying. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence weaves a story that is memorable, intricate, and well presented. We see a society through the eyes of a robot-boy, who convincingly humanizes their robot origins.

The many viewpoints used in the film to show a myriad of societal hierarchies is overwhelming for a film of its length. If you like science fiction, grab a box of tissues, and watch this film. It is science fiction with a heart and soul, borrowing very, very respectfully from Pinocchio.