Thoughts on a Movie: A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a 2001 film directed by Steven Spielberg and the late Stanley Kubrick based on Brian Aldiss’ short story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long”.

It is a three-act film, focused on the efforts of David (Haley Joel Osment) to become a real boy like Pinnochio , so he could be accepted by Monica (Frances O'Connor) his known mother. David is an advanced humanoid, designed to resemble a human child and love its owner.

The first act is about David being a temporary replacement for the Swinton’s whose real son Martin is in suspended animation suffering from a deadly rare disease. Monica is initially frightened of David, but eventually David wakes her motherly emotions and her longing for Martin, her real son. This leads her to activate David’s imprinting protocol, causing David to love her, as a child would love a parent. After Monica realizes she won’t always be there for David, she then gives him Teddy (voice of Jack Angel), a super toy who brings upon himself to care for David.

A cure has been found for Martin (Jake Thomas), and he is brought home. A sibling rivalry starts which leads to certain unfortunate events leading Henry (Sam Robards) to decide that David isn’t safe for the family and he must be brought back to Cybertronics where he will be destroyed. However, along the way Monica decides to abandon David in the forest with Teddy. David is captured in an anti-mecha flesh fare, were mechas are ultimately destroyed. He meets various versions of mechas here, who same as him are only waiting for their doom in that Flesh Fair. David is nearly killed but his resemblance to a child saves him from his destruction, he is able to escape here, along with Teddy and Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) a male mecha prostitute who is framed for murder.

The second act where Kubrick’s style is more evident is focused on the journey of David with Gigolo Joe and Teddy in search for the Blue Fairy, whom David remembers from the book that Monica read to him as the one who transformed Pinnochio to a real boy, and David believes that this Blue Fairy could do it for him too, so Monica could love him and bring him home already. Joe says “Dr. Know” (voice of Robin Williams) a holographic answer engine located in Rouge City would know where to find the Blue Fairy. Dr. Know’s answer leads them to a partially submerged New York, where only the tallest skyscrapers are visible. 

The final and very disappointing final act is where Kubrick’s and Spielberg’s style are most deviating, Spielberg colors this agonizing and tragic act of Kubrick with bright and happy colors.

Other than the directors’ deviating style and the impressive visual effects are the actors. Osment delivered a very effective acting here, a mecha child. A blend of circuitry and humanity, his acting wasn’t too human nor too much mecha, he made a perfect blending of the two. Jude Law (Gigolo Joe) also played well as the optimistic male mecha prostitute who became the surrogate parent of David. 

I was really touched by the movie but I don't think the ending was right, the movie touched a lot of issues from the question on our existence, the moral of creation , and the responsibility we hold to whatever we have and create and a lot more, but none were clarified. Instead it was ended with a very sentimental scene, leaving its audience with a conundrum.

A moral question was raised at the beginning of the movie "If  a robot could genuinely love a person what responsibility does that person hold toward that mecha in return?" I was hoping that the answer to this question would be answered but instead the movie only showed how we humans could easily have a change of mind and how we could act in such irresponsible ways, when we get fed up of it we leave it or destroy it. David was created to love. As Adam was created to love God. But there is a difference with the creation of Adam and David. Adam's creator had an unending love for him, while David's creator (humans) are not capable of such love, like the love God will always have for us.