sickly good

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2002)

I was surprised. I hated AI, and I thought Spielberg was heading downhill into bad science fiction. Not Friday-Night-Movie-Funtime bad -- just bad. But this was good science fiction, because there was more to it than just science. Cool gismos and car-chases in space-age Lexuses don't hurt it any, but this movie really has something for everyone. A realistic Constitutional debate, philosophical questions of determinism and free-will, symbolism that avoids complete cheesiness, great comic relief, lots of fast-paced action, good casting. Setting it in a world that we can recognize made it almost disturbing in that it was all the more plausible. The very evident dark side of the hero gave it depth. I'd watch this again and again -- I bet I'd keep finding new angles, new things to think about. And the special effects are great.