No more Spielberg for me

Rating: 2/10 (28 June 2002)

How annoying -
First - I pay admission to a movie. Then I have to watch 10 minutes of commercials. Then I have to watch 15 minutes of movie commercials (previews). Why, then, should I be forced to watch 15-20 advertisements within the body of the film itself? Lets see, I'll name off the top of my head the companies whose logos were prominently featured in this film: The Gap, Burger King, USA Today, Newsweek, HydroGrow, Remo, Lexus, Bvlgaria, etc. etc. etc. There were many more that I can't even remember. It's pretty sad when a movie can contain more product placements than a Bond film, but this one sure does. It's a sign that Spielberg has respect for only one thing - his wallet. If I am going to be forced to watch this many advertisements during the movie I should get in for free.
Secondly - we don't need Biggie-Size fries, we don't need Biggie-Size cokes, and we don't need Biggie-Size films either. Why do all film-makers these days insist on making 3 hour long movies? There was enough story in this film to fit nicely into a 1 hour TV show. There is no excuse for stretching it into 3 hours. I can only suppose that these film-makers think that we want nothing more than to be exposed to their genius (and their sponsors' advertisements) for as much time as possible. Sorry, I'll take a 90 minute film with a concise plot any day over 3 hours of chase scenes and explosions.
Third - apparently Spielberg liked filling Kubrick's shoes in AI. He's now trying to continue the trend by adding numerous avant-garde touches to this film. Sorry, they all feel phony and contrived. Stick with your own style Spielberg.
I will say that visually the film is quite stunning. Too bad it has no soul...