After a major solar event destroys the ozone layer, most life on Earth dies. Finch is one of the last surviving humans, and he distrusts other people with good reason. He has witnessed humans killing one another over small amounts of food.
I looked this up, and after such a catastrophe it would take decades, possibly up to a century, for the ozone layer to regenerate. Such an event is plausible. The cosmos is filled with dangers, such as coronal mass ejections, gamma-ray bursts, and asteroid impacts.
Finch lives in a shelter but must venture out to find food for himself and his dog. He wears a radiation suit, but conditions outside are extremely harsh. He knows that he is dying from radiation exposure.
He loves the dog; it is the only thing he has left. Because of this, he builds an intelligent robot whose purpose is to take care of the dog after Finch dies. The robot is very smart but also a bit goofy, lacking common sense and still trying to learn. This is where the movie takes an unexpected turn, as it is really the relationship between Finch, the robot, and the dog that the story explores.
That said, the robot’s goofiness feels very familiar, as if this story has been done before. I was reminded of Short Circuit, Wall-E, and several robots from Star Wars.
Circumstances force the trio out of the shelter, and they head west in a makeshift armored vehicle, hoping to reach San Francisco. Along the way, they face danger from both the environment and other humans. The desolation of the terrain makes The Road look like paradise by comparison.
I was very moved by Tom Hanks’s performance as Finch. He conveys deep compassion under the worst possible circumstances. Some critics, however, felt that the robot storyline was recycled and unoriginal. The ending also feels truncated, as though the filmmakers could have explored this world much more. So while it is not a perfect movie, I did like it quite a bit.
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