Friday, September 19, 2014

The Machine

Researches try to create an artificially intelligent killing machine but things go horribly wrong when the robot soldier rebels against its masters.  

Have we seen stories like this before?  Too many times.  There have been a variety of stories about some new technological breakthrough that backfires and other stories about robots or computers turning against their creators.  The movie seems way too familiar, but there are other elements that are kind of cool, like creepy brain damaged soldiers who have been "fixed" with computer chips and a budding romance between the robot, who just happens to look like a sexy super model, and its creator.

My problem is that I didn't believe any of it.  The story makes very little sense to me.  If you were going to create a killer robot soldier, you would also create a ton of safeguards to make sure you can control the technology.  Furthermore, you wouldn't be claiming that you don't understand what it is that you just created and you wouldn't be treating it like a person, which everyone in this film does.  Ten or twenty years from now when we have real robots,  people will look at this film and think that it is absurd.  Or maybe they won't.

Despite my major qualms with the film, it feels like it is worth watching.  Once.  There is enough going on in this movie to make it creepy, interesting and intelligent.  It is a dark film to be sure, but most of it kept me in suspense.  I think that the ending doesn't rise to the level of the rest of the film, but up to that point it is a compelling ride.

Rating:  A weak * * *


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