David, the ultimate "boy toy". (Courtesy: Warner Bros. & DreamWorks)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Warner Bros./DreamWorks, 2001
Directed by Steven Spielberg

$$$1/2

It is the future. The polar ice caps have melted, and the world's great coastal cities are underwater. It is also an age of great technological advancement -- an age of intelligent machines. An age when society is divided into orgas -- organic human beings -- and mechas -- machines.

This, at long last, is the world of Stanley Kubrick's A.I. For 15 years, the movie remained a seemingly mythical promise -- Kubrick's long awaited return to science fiction. For ages, the movie remained in pre-production as Kubrick waited for special effects technology to advance to the point where his vision could be achieved. Alas, just as that time arrived, Kubrick left this mortal coil. And so it is left to Steven Spielberg -- who collaborated with Kubrick during the movie's long development process -- to examine the concept that so fascinated his mentor. At its core, A.I. looks at what will happen when the human race acquires the ability to create a machine that will love. What will happen when love can be literally packaged, put in a box and sold? What responsibility will humans have for machines that love them?

The machine, in this case, is David, a prototype robot boy played wonderfully by Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) made-up to make his skin look slightly rubbery. David is the perfect child. He goes to bed whenever you tell him. He smiles, he's helpful, polite, and he will never grow up. And he loves unconditionally.

He is given to a set of parents who have suffered a terrible tragedy. Their own son has been in a coma for years, and at first, David is just what the distraught mother (Frances O'Connor) needs. The boy is programed to love her, and the programming is irreversible.

But when the couple's real son miraculously wakes-up, David quickly becomes expendable. Soon, he's cast out into the futuristic wilderness along with another "supertoy" that's no longer wanted -- a robotic stuffed animal named Teddy. With Teddy at his side, David sets out on a quest to regain his mother's love. Sadly misguided by the fairy tale Pinocchio, David believes the only way he can win his mother back is by finding someone who can turn him into a real little boy.

Here, the sensibilities of Kubrick and Spielberg both merge and diverge. Kubrick -- the cynic -- would have had fun with the absurdity of a machine that will stop at nothing trying to carry out its program, even if it means trying to achieve something that's unachievable. Spielberg, meanwhile -- the more sentimental artist -- approaches David's quest as being emblematic of one of the most basic and universal human desires... David just wants his Mommy! We all identify with that basic need and Spielberg taps into that to pull our heart strings.

The styles of Kubrick and Spielberg are seen in different ways. The lighting and the shooting style is mostly Spielberg, with a few Kubrick homages. Kubrick was known for a cold style and probably would have foregone the many warm tones used here. Much of the art direction and music is reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange (there's even a "Milk Bar" sign visible at one point). But the movie probably owes just as much to Blade Runner, particularly in David's journey through the harsh urban future world. One setting, Rouge City, looks like a sexed-up Las Vegas on crack.

It is in these harsh outer realms that David meets up with other mechas, namely a sex robot named Gigolo Joe, played by Jude Law. Spielberg plays the "sex machine" concept for laughs, but in a PG-13 way. One can only imagine where Kubrick would have gone with the idea. David also sees the harsh treatment most mechas receive from resentful orgas. In one extended sequence, David is swept-up into a "flesh fair" -- a bizarre spectacle in which robots are destroyed in violent ways for the amusement of humans.

The visual effects involving the mangled robots are well done, but we've seen this CGI craftsmanship so often now, audiences will almost take it for granted. The most enjoyable visual effect turns out to be Teddy. Spielberg manages to make the character utterly adorable without causing you to gag. Think Snuggle the fabric softener bear with the voice of a truck driver.

The worst sight is a cartoon character voiced by Robin Williams that feels completely out of place. By the way, also listen for voice cameos by Chris Rock, Ben Kingsley and Meryl Streep.

A.I.'s only other weakness is its pacing. The movie is only about two hours and 15 minutes, but it feels a lot longer. Many will also find the ending too drawn out. The film could easily end about a half-hour before it does; instead we're treated to a 2001-ish through-the-stargate style denouement. Some will lose patience with this part of the film, but its addition allows the introduction of another BIG SCIENCE FICTION IDEA -- one that I won't reveal here.

In the end, A.I. is not everything fans have hoped for all these years, but it's darn close. And it's simply nice to see the film finally unspooling on a theater screen. We haven't had a serious science fiction film this good in quite a while. A.I. is a film that ponders deep ethical questions about technology and the future of the human race and challenges us to examine the true meaning of love. You can't exactly say the same thing about, say, The Fast and the Furious.
(c) Copyright 2001