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I, ROBOT
Starring:
Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk, Bruce
Greenwood
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Running Time: 115 minutes Released: 6th August
Reviewer: Saxon Bullock
Everybody
knows you can’t trust trailers. The PHANTOM
MENACE effect of a stunning, mind-melting teaser
followed by both soul-destroying disappointment
and the desire to punch the filmmakers involved
is a familiar ingredient of every batch of Summer
Blockbusters- but sometimes, the effect can also
work in reverse.
Take the messy first trailer for I, ROBOT;- a
dreadful montage with enough poorly timed gags,
overdone “It’s all a conspiracy!”
hints and shots of Will Smith blowing away evil
droids to have any self-respecting Asimov fans
boiling with rage. It certainly didn’t look
like a decent comeback for DARK CITY director
Alex Proyas, and the omens suggested that Hollywood
would yet again be taking a prized piece of SF
lore and stomping all over it.
Suprisingly, however, things aren’t as cut-and-dried
as they appear, and while the final product is
admittedly flawed and will annoy the hell out
of die-hard Asimov fans, it’s also an entertaining
mass-market SF movie that’s a lot more respectful
of the original material’s themes than first
impressions suggested.
Closer in tone to MINORITY REPORT than MEN IN
BLACK, the more intelligent aspects of the script
show co-screenwriter Akiva Goldsman must have
learned a few lessons after BATMAN AND ROBIN,
and also makes Smith stretch his acting muscles
a little further than his usual street-smart blockbuster
persona.
Set in 2035 Chicago, the plot follows Detective
Del Spooner (Smith) as he investigates the death
of a robotics expert, and finds that the prime
suspect seems to be one of the brand new NS-5
robots- a fact that’s supposed to be impossible
thanks to the human-protecting Three Laws of Robotics.
Of course, he’s soon knee deep in a conspiracy
that’s leading to the full-scale robot revolution
promised in the trailers- but the film is most
interesting when it’s keeping away from
cookie-cutter blockbuster action, and letting
the story’s characters and concepts breathe.
The best example of this comes with the character
of Sonny (Alan Tudyk)- the robot accused of murder,
who’s also struggling with aspects of humanity
that are evolving inside his brain. Proyas handles
the acting well enough that the admittedly impressive
effects don’t matter- it’s the interplay
between the characters, and the exploration of
Asimov’s ideas about what defines intelligence,
that makes the film work. Smith even allows the
uglier side of Spooner’s prejudice against
robots to come out in full force, and it’s
a pleasure to see him taking risks in what could
have been a by-the-numbers role.
Of course, the movie can’t keep it up forever.
The first half is a genuinely satisfying sci-fi
conspiracy thriller, and then the robots start
glowing an evil shade of red (a touch highly reminiscent
of classic WHO story ROBOTS OF DEATH), and suddenly
we’re in the middle of “Will Smith
Vs the Killer Mecha Hordes of Doom”. The
elaborate action sequences are all entertaining
roller-coaster stuff (aside from the excessively
daft Robots vs Humans rumble), but they drag the
film back into the depths it seemed to be trying
to climb out of, and the final reveal of the culprit
behind the robot revolution is both predictable
and one of the biggest clich_s in the book.
At the least, it’s one of the most beautifully
designed Sci-Fi movies of recent years, with Proyas
creating a sleek, convincing future grounded in
reality, as well as blending the CG robots in
with the action to impressive effect. He may not
have matched DARK CITY for intelligence and style,
but he has crafted a crowd-pleasing summer blockbuster
that gives something to think about between action
sequences other than “When is this going
to end?”s.
Rating:
* * *
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KINGDOM HOSPITAL
DVD
RELEASE:
2004 Dir: Craig R. Baxley
Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Bruce Davison, Diane
Ladd, Jack Coleman
Certificate: 15 Running Time: 580 minutes
R.R.P.: £44.99
Reviewer: Saxon Bullock
As
unlikely collaborations go, the idea of Stephen
King teaming up with Dogville director Lars Von
Trier seemed like the ravings of a diseased imagination.
Collective jaws dropped in astonishment, therefore,
when a US reworking of Von Trier’s bonkers
Danish TV horror saga The Kingdom was commissioned,
and King was the writer remixing it for an American
audience. Sadly, what was hugely promising in
theory hasn’t worked out well in practice,
with the end result turning out as a comedy horror
show that over-cranks the comedy, yet undercooks
the horror.
Fusing the medical drama of E.R. with the supernatural
shenanigans of The Shining, the story unfolds
in the massive technological haven of Kingdom
Hospital, where the bickering staff and bemused
patients are unaware of ghostly presences lurking
around them. It’s only when respectable
artist Peter Rickman (Jack Coleman) arrives in
the wards after a brutal hit and run incident
that something evil starts to emerge- something
connected to a spectral young girl and the enigmatic
psychic Anteater named Antubis…
King’s most effective addition is the painfully
autobiographical recreation of his real life,
near-fatal accident in the first episode, but
otherwise it’s amazing how closely this
sticks to the original mini-series’ setup.
There’s plenty of ominous atmosphere and
a few decent shocks, and yet the new show can’t
get anywhere close to the original’s flavour
of demented black comedy. Too often going for
forced slapstick or annoying, spot-the-reference
character names (Dr. Hook, Johnny B. Good or Jesse
James), the self-consciously wacky tone gets frequently
wearing, but also blows a hole in any intentions
to build up a genuine sense of dread. Diehard
King fans will lap this up, but any hopes for
a stylish TWIN PEAKS-esque weird-a-thon are dead
on arrival….
Rating:
* *
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LOST IN SPACE: SEASON TWO
DVD
RELEASE
1966-1967 Dirs: Various
Starring: Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Billy Mumy,
Jonathan Harris
Cert: PG Running Time: 1470 minutes approx
Black
and White can make all the difference. The first
season of Irwin Allen’s interplanetary TV
saga LOST IN SPACE might have been frequently
silly and shamelessly camp- but thanks to being
shown in shimmering monochrome, the whole enterprise
still holds a pleasingly nostalgic B-movie atmosphere.
Once the show shifted into blazing colour, however,
it was a different story- and Season Two is the
point where both the limitations of the show’s
format and the rapidly shrinking budget transform
into serious problems.
Over thirty episodes, the stunningly bland Robinson
family bounce back and forth across the galaxy,
encountering mining prospectors, alien princesses,
space cowboys and lots of howlingly unconvincing
monsters. Despite the sci-fi trappings, it’s
closer to outright pulp fantasy, with Norse Gods
and unexpected jaunts to 19th Century Scotland
or Hell thrown into the mix. The show tries hard
to entertain and holds plenty of naive charm,
but rarely has enough imagination to carry off
any of its loopy concepts, usually coming across
as an acid-induced blend of STAR TREK and THE
WALTONS.
The show’s saving grace is the trio of Will
Robinson (a remarkably unslappable Billy Mumy),
the bubble-headed Robot and- of course- the unforgettable
Jonathan Harris as the meddling Dr. Zachary Smith.
Obviously realising he’s surrounded by colourless
cyphers like Mark Goddard’s wooden Major
Don West, Harris munches the scenery at every
opportunity, cranking the camp up to nuclear levels,
while delivering a deliciously enjoyable masterclass
in over-the-top villainy. Whether he’s scheming,
shrieking in fear, or just deviously lurking in
the background, it’s Harris that keeps the
show watchable and fun, even when the whole “Dr
Smith places the Robinsons in danger” routine
finally becomes deathly dull.
Disc
Extras:
Showing even less enthusiasm than the thin Season
One extras, all we get here are two late Sixties
US radio interviews- one with Guy Williams and
June Lockhart, the other with the stunningly camp
Jonathan Harris- both accompanied by photo galleries.
Rating:
* * Extras:
*
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