I can’t really say this movie was hugely different to others I’ve seen with the same plot of humans and AI (or robots) at war with each other. I will say that I haven’t seen many similar movies that show all of the robots as obviously having feelings and emotions, not just the one/s who the main plot focuses on.
The movie did start out in a fairly stereotypical way, showing advertising and clips about how good AI was before things went so horribly wrong. I was a bit confused by how old-fashioned the adverisments came across as, though. In a more advanced (at least technology wise) society, I would have expected to see advertising that was more futuristic, even if the wholesome family moments were kept.
The strongest part of this movie was definitely the relationship that formed between Joshua and Alphie. That was hinted at in the trailer, but the movie definitely did a good job with that. By the end, that relationship was definitely pulling on my heartstrings, and I did actually cry at two separate moments. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the relationship between Joshua and Maya to be quite as believable. In the flashbacks, it was difficult to tell what Joshua really felt about her and what was only part of his mission. I don’t think that was helped by the fact that the flashbacks felt very disjointed and weren’t very linear.
I did feel like this movie drew a lot of parallels to how society acts now towards other people. I liked the fact that I was able to see both sides of the conflict, since that meant I could not only understand both better, but also that it was obvious neither side was truly evil…even though I didn’t like how the humans were behaving towards the robots. I was strongly biased against the humans, considering they were invading another country who was on peaceful, friendly and even familial terms with AI. As one of the villagers said, “They have more heart than you!” Or words to that effect, since I don’t remember the exact quote.
I mentioned above that this movie actually made me cry. There were also some great elements of humour, particularly when it came to the translator using using far more polite language than the reality was, given the person was screaming at the invading army.
On the whole, I’m glad I watched this movie. It pulled at my heartstrings and made me think seriously about what it means to be human. Plus, given the way society is now responding to AI, the events of this movie might yet occur in the future.
Ink of Blood 