Oh, I really wanted to like this movie. Edwards did a great job with Rogue One. He missed the mark with this one. First the positives.
Movie looks amazing. The world feels lived in and something that I felt was a real place. Edwards is great at world building. Actors were all pretty great.. at least with the material they were given. Sound was awesome, and it was just well made on a technical level.
What didn't work for me was the story and the script. Edwards doesn't seem to have the writing skills that measure up to his strong director abilities. The story started out strong and had great potential in the first act. It was making the audience pay attention and see how it was all fitting together. The questions about AI seemed to be timely and thought provoking. Then it started to fall apart for me.
It just was so flat and predictable. Didn't go to the depths that it teased that it might explore. The biggest thing for me, the massive plot holes. So annoying! For a film that seems to be trying to make a world that we could believe was real.. then the writers need to make things make sense and the characters should do things that are believable for their situations. Few examples.
Joshua was trying to get Alphie back after the simulants got him. He sneaks into their area by tip toeing, and flicks a switch on the leaders neck to turn off the robot. They have their power switch right there on their necks!? None of them could detect him as he was sneaking around? After he gets Alphie back, the simulants can't find Alphie. There is no tracking capabilities on him? We can track our cell phones in this day and age, and 50 years in the future, they wouldn't be able to track their most important "weapon/creation"? And why did they not protect their important creation. Also the Army comes in with these huge tanks (which were cool) and one explosive device completely disables it. Come on. And the flying base.. don't get me started. Joshua gets on board and destroys it so easily. The most important Army asset and it's practically defenseless. Had me rolling my eyes so many times. Making things make sense is important, especially for a film that tries to be realistic or believable. The army sends these running bombs to hurt the simulants. A missile would do the job and be so much more efficient.
I also had an issue with the plot point that the AI just wanted peace and for everyone to love each other. I feel like that is a sort of weak premise. Why would the AI have that perspective? If they were based on the humans or what you would find on the internet, why would they think just loving each other would be possible. The AI wanted to survive, hense the fighting, and that idea just doesn't seem logical. At least it didn't feel believable in the world of this movie. I could not buy that idea from what was presented in the first 2 acts of the movie. I loved the questions that were brought up in the movie, but I just feel like they were not developed in a smart of thought provoking way.
The movie could have been so much more. I wish it delivered for me... But I just left feeling disappointed and like the movie was an empty shell. Hopefully Edwards gets better material in the future and can bring his directing talents to material that is stronger and written in a more complete and thoughtful way.
Movie looks amazing. The world feels lived in and something that I felt was a real place. Edwards is great at world building. Actors were all pretty great.. at least with the material they were given. Sound was awesome, and it was just well made on a technical level.
What didn't work for me was the story and the script. Edwards doesn't seem to have the writing skills that measure up to his strong director abilities. The story started out strong and had great potential in the first act. It was making the audience pay attention and see how it was all fitting together. The questions about AI seemed to be timely and thought provoking. Then it started to fall apart for me.
It just was so flat and predictable. Didn't go to the depths that it teased that it might explore. The biggest thing for me, the massive plot holes. So annoying! For a film that seems to be trying to make a world that we could believe was real.. then the writers need to make things make sense and the characters should do things that are believable for their situations. Few examples.
Joshua was trying to get Alphie back after the simulants got him. He sneaks into their area by tip toeing, and flicks a switch on the leaders neck to turn off the robot. They have their power switch right there on their necks!? None of them could detect him as he was sneaking around? After he gets Alphie back, the simulants can't find Alphie. There is no tracking capabilities on him? We can track our cell phones in this day and age, and 50 years in the future, they wouldn't be able to track their most important "weapon/creation"? And why did they not protect their important creation. Also the Army comes in with these huge tanks (which were cool) and one explosive device completely disables it. Come on. And the flying base.. don't get me started. Joshua gets on board and destroys it so easily. The most important Army asset and it's practically defenseless. Had me rolling my eyes so many times. Making things make sense is important, especially for a film that tries to be realistic or believable. The army sends these running bombs to hurt the simulants. A missile would do the job and be so much more efficient.
I also had an issue with the plot point that the AI just wanted peace and for everyone to love each other. I feel like that is a sort of weak premise. Why would the AI have that perspective? If they were based on the humans or what you would find on the internet, why would they think just loving each other would be possible. The AI wanted to survive, hense the fighting, and that idea just doesn't seem logical. At least it didn't feel believable in the world of this movie. I could not buy that idea from what was presented in the first 2 acts of the movie. I loved the questions that were brought up in the movie, but I just feel like they were not developed in a smart of thought provoking way.
The movie could have been so much more. I wish it delivered for me... But I just left feeling disappointed and like the movie was an empty shell. Hopefully Edwards gets better material in the future and can bring his directing talents to material that is stronger and written in a more complete and thoughtful way.