A.I. Artificial Intelligence2001

88/100 When you have Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick working together on a movie, you know it's gonna be good, but I don't quite think it's because of Spielberg and Kubrick both working on it that it's great. In fact, one of my few critiques of this movie, which I'll be upfront about, is that this mesh of creatives results in a story that meanders and results in an uneven viewing experience, with it being almost jarring going from Kubrick's family-driven first act to Spielberg's zany sci-fi second act back to Kubrick's ending. However, the ending is a far bigger matter, which I'll get to later, because for now, I have a far bigger amount of praise to heap on this film. First off is pretty much everything behind the scenes, as the art direction, set design and VFX are all handled very well. Spielberg's direction is also great here, helping along the great visuals. The futuristic houses have an artificial feel to them that helps dim the warmth, whereas the protagonist David's scenes with his mother have much more warmth once he "imprints" on her, helping build their relationship in the short time we get with it through the visual medium. The acting is also very good here, helped along by stellar character-focused writing. Haley Joel Osment is very good here as David himself, working to make me genuinely emotionally attached to the robot child. He's creepy when he needs to be, such as before he "imprints", while being innocent and likeable afterwards. The highlight, however, is Jude Law as a sex robot, working as a mechanical prostitute. There are so many small touches to his performance, such as quirking his neck to play sensual music. He works to make this character, which I might have viewed as unnecessary, one of my favourites. My favourite character from the whole movie is Teddy. The performance is nothing to write home about, but I do like how much of a ride-or-die he is to David, to the point of staying with him as he pleads with the Blue Fairy to make him real for millenia. I'm just saying, I'd want him as my supertoy. The storytelling here is of the charts with how creative and fun it is. The sci-fi setting fades into the background as it grounds itself in familiar concepts, instead using them to further the themes of the story it wants to tell. The themes, especially those Biblical in nature, are so many and so layered that I could write an essay about the film and how it handles all of these. However, I believe the core theme is a simple one: one of love. The film poses many questions: to what lengths must one go to meet one's creator, and what must one do if the creator rejects them? How can we maintain hope, and is it wrong to do so based on a falsity? However, the film posits love as an answer, and how David's love for his mother is ultimately what drives him to survive and be happy. However, I only have one other complaint about the film, and that's the climax of these themes during the film's climax. I fully believe the film should've ended with David at the Blue Fairy, eternally pleading to be human. I do think the ending where he gets to live a perfect day with his mother and then "dying" with her leans too far into sentimentalism. However, this is a complaint I feel is very personal, and even then, I wouldn't say it's bad, as it offers a climax to the themes. I'd just call it a mediocre ending to what I consider overall a great and brilliant movie, and one of Spielberg's best so far.