"A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" review

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Writing credits Brian Aldiss Ian Watson

Haley Joel Osment .... David
Frances O'Connor .... Monica Swinton
Jude Law .... Gigolo Joe
William Hurt .... Prof. Hobby

My dad and I went to see this one. As we were leaving the concession stand, a lady asked the guy behind the counter if he had seen "AI". He said, "Yeah. Bring some tissues. It's a tearjerker." My dad and I looked at each other in horror. Here I thought it would be a cool, sci-fi movie about a robot boy. Instead it was robot "Pinocchio". Total disaster.

This movie fails because of one single reason. It asks you to care about the robot boy and see him as more than an appliance of the future. Not at one point did I ever, EVER, think he was anything but a machine. He was not a boy. I didn't care if Robo-kid ever got the love a robot deserves.

So Robo-lad gets kicked out of his home and begins a quest to become a boy and then mommy will love him. So now, the audience is supposed to get very emotional about his quest. My dad was nudging me and begging me to leave early. This man is a sci-fi nut and would sit through almost anything. Remember that old black and white movie that had the guy in a gorilla suit with a fish bowl on his head? He thought that was pretty good. Now he's ready to bolt out of the theater. Bad sign.

No tears were jerked from me. I almost laughed my head off at the end with facsimile mom and the "happy" ending for Robo-squirt.

Robo kid wanted his mommy. I want my money back. Oh man was it bad.

SCORE: 1 out of 4 because Supertoys are still only toys