Tag Archives: AI

M3GAN 2.0 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – When it lands on the surreal nature of the premise, it is a blast to watch. When they need to forward the plot, you can feel the gears grinding to a halt.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no end credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

M3GAN stuck in a child's toy.

M3GAN 2.0 Review –

Back in 2023, there was this weirdly wonderful thing that sliced its way into the world. M3GAN was filled with equal parts of camp and horror, but ended in a tidy, neat bow. Well, suppose you know anything about horror, especially artificial antagonists, you know that there is always a way to bring them back from the dead, and sure enough, it is now time to jump into the second iteration of M3GAN.

So, to set the scene, in the years since M3GAN (Amie Donald/Jenna Davis) was deactivated during her murderous rampage, trying to protect Cady (Violet McGraw) by killing everyone around her. Her inventor, Gemma (Allison Williams), has been looking at ways to bring the world forward without the dangers of technology. But after a heavy-handed FBI raid after a botched operation on the Iranian/Turkish border led by Saudi Arabia, they discover that someone has stolen the coding for M3GAN and built their own robot called AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), who has gone on a rampage, killing everyone involved in her construction. There seems to be a theme here. But this could also include Gemma and Cady. So, how do you stop a robot on a murderous rampage? Well… maybe you can look a bit deeper into who is running the tech in your house and perhaps let them out of their digital cage. I’m sure nothing could go wrong …     

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Does it nail those moments of spectacle? Absolutely, in ways few can. But it is also filled with a lacklustre antagonist, a meandering narrative, and a desperate need to find some relevance. Look, it is just okay, and that’s fine.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Tom Cruise Running.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review –

Well, we have apparently reached the end of an era, though I will believe that when we see the box office earnings. But if this is the end, does it create a satisfying narrative to justify this massive franchise coming to a close? Can it create a level of visual excellence that makes it stand out from those who came before it? Will it make Tom Cruise run the most? These were the questions I had in my mind as I sat down with my popcorn and drink.

So, to set the scene, it has been a few months since Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning [now minus the dangling Part One] and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) have gone to ground with the Crucifix Key. While hiding, the AI Entity has infiltrated most of the world and has artificially created tension among the nations. The Earth is a powder keg waiting to go off, The Entity has created a doomsday cult to forward its means, and Gabriel (Esai Morales) is still out there causing chaos. However, Ethan Hunt has a plan; the only issue is how many of his friends he might have to sacrifice before the end.

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Companion – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Companion is a film full of juxtapositions, hilarious and incredibly violent, fascinating yet also profoundly exploitative, and a fascinating romp even when it is trying to plum the depths of human depravity.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress.

Iris shopping.

Companion Review –

Today, we look at a film that is fundamentally ambitious with the themes and tone that it wants to set. A Dark Comedy that is also exploring the world of manipulation, power, control, and personhood. All significant themes in their own right, and the question then becomes: can you do them all justice in 90-minute runtime and a shoestring budget?  

So, to set the scene, Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) have the perfect meet/cute story: they randomly bumped into each other in a grocery store, and Josh was so awkward that he accidentally knocked over a whole table full of oranges. It could have been a moment of disaster, but they found love in that odd place. It was such a decisive moment that Iris listed it as the only time that she moved out of her benign world and into something more profound. Oh, well and that one other time, the day she killed Josh.  

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A Million Days – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A conceptually interesting film that just never quite coalesced in the way that it wanted.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film

Three astronauts with crosses for eyes.

A Million Days Review –

If there has been one major shift in technology in the 21st century so far, it is the rise of predictive AI. While the whole world is trying to rectify this new landscape, Science Fiction media has been playing in that space for decades. Today, we explore a film that is all about AI and what it means for the future of humanity.

So, to set the scene, in 2041, after decades of unchecked global warming, Earth is on the cusp of complete ecological collapse. The SEED project, powered by an AI called JAY, was created to try and make humanity a multi-planet civilization. Anderson (Simon Merrells) and Sam (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) help run the JAY project as the Lunar Colony is being established. However, when one of the new hires, Charlie (Hermione Corfield), accidentally runs a JAY simulation for a million days, they discover that something is wrong with humanity and its survival.   

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Atlas – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It has a rough start, but kind of finds its feet, but probably long after most of switched it off.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The Mech.

Atlas Review –

Well, if there has been one technology that can define the 2020s, it is AI. As much as that affects behind-the-scenes in exciting but also exploitive and dubious ways, we are also going to see that come to the forefront of narratives. Today’s film does just that as we dive into the world on the edge.

So to set the scene, everything was going fine on Earth until one day, every AI robotic component on Earth rebelled, killing millions. All the damage was seemingly set off by one Robot called Harlan (Simu Liu) who helped kill millions before what was left of the world combined under the ICN and fought back. Harlan escaped the planet, but twenty-eight years later, he legacy of destruction is felt by all. No more so than Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) who grew up with Harlan as a child. When one of Harlan’s top lieutenants, Casca Vix (Abraham Popoola), was captured on Earth, everyone knew he was ready to return, the one thing Atlas was fighting to stop.

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The Creator – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A phenomenal work of art that touches on all the emotions.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A smiling synth.

The Creator Review –

There are many ways you can get me into a cinema, and chief among them is bringing a new Science Fiction film into the world. A new movie not attached to any existing IP. Do you know how rare that is today? But then also have it be the first significant follow-up of Gareth Edwards after Rogue One. Well, you have already sold me, but sure, add a cherry on the top. However, even then, I was unprepared for the beauty and ugliness I was about to watch.

So to set the scene, in the near future, AI, robotics, and synths will be a part of every facet of society. That is until that same AI launched a nuclear missile attack on Los Angeles in 2055. Millions died, and much of the world banned AI, but not New Asia. Ten years after LA and the war across New Asia rages, America tries to destroy the robotic resistance. Amongst all of this, Joshua (John David Washington) and Maya (Gemma Chan) live in a house on the beach and are expecting their first child when an American raid reveals Joshua to be a double agent. It is a disaster for Joshua, but five years later, as the last threat to the looming spaceship USS Nomad is identified, he is given a choice: Help a team find this weapon and maybe save his love. But no one was expecting what they found in that lab.

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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While the individual set piece moments are as good as ever, the connecting tissue feels a bit flat this time.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Ethan Hunt/Tom Cruise running.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Review –

When I think back to the Mission: Impossible franchise, the first thing that comes to mind is solid consistency. You can know what to expect from the film before you walk in the door, and they nearly always deliver, yes, even M: I 2. I was delighted to see the next entry, even when a ‘Part One’ moniker is often a bit of a red flag and while those solid aspects are still there, some elements were lacking.

So to set the scene, we are under the Bearing Sea with the Russian submarine Sevastopol as it tests its new AI stealth drive. This drive has allowed it to approach the navies of every world power without being detected. However, when they are heading back to port, something odd happens when an American submarine suddenly sees them but disappears from their monitors after they fire torpedoes. But destruction soon follows. Two keys lead to the sub’s heart, and one ends up in the hands of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) in the Yemeni Desert. Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) tasks Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to obtain the key that every nation in the world wants because, with it, they can control the AI that is currently destroying every intelligence apparatus they have.    

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Movie Review – TAU

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TL;DR – TAU is one of those films where there is an interesting core of an idea here, but then really the movie spends almost all of its time not exploring it.

Score – 2 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no Post-Credit Scene

TAU. Image Credit: Netflix

Review –

Watching a good film can be joyful, watching a bad film can at least be interesting, but watching a film that clearly had potential only to not deliver on it … well, that can be torturous. This week we look at TAU a film that unfortunately falls into the latter category. It is a film that is trying to take the AI computer genre in a different direction but unfortunately falls into just being a pastiche of other films, and not even a very good version of that.

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