In 2055, rogue AI detonates a nuclear bomb over Los Angeles, leading the US and its Western allies to pledge to eradicate all AI. Undercover agent sergeant Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) is tasked to go to New Asia to find and destroy a weapon developed by Nirmata, the creator of advanced AI, on the promise that he will be reunited with his long thought dead wife Maya (Gemma Chan). Josh finds the ‘weapon’ and is shocked to see that it is in the synthetic robotic form of an innocent child.
Independent filmmaker Gareth Edwards impressed with his low-budget feature debut, Monsters (2010), a human story of connection within a world of sci-fi ‘beings’. Graduating to Godzilla (2014) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) with this same temperament, Gareth returns to his low-budget origins here. Keeping the costs down but the production values high, the movie, however, sacrifices Edward’s voice in favour of a Christopher Nolan cloned synthetic instead. The movie’s lead is the face of Nolan’s sci-fi effort Tenet (2020) and is composed by Nolan’s regular collaborator Hans Zimmer. Nolan’s penchant for overly taut editing, delivery of ‘patches’ of information, and forced emotion is also used here. This leads to a cold disconnect from our human characters as they unconvincingly decide to segue into their adventure.
Verdict: While an admirable independent effort in a world of bloated blockbusters, the movie lacks the director’s distinctive voice amongst the pedigree of its obvious sci-fi influences. 2.5 stars.
Luke McWilliams, www.themovieclub.net.
Viewed at Dendy cinemas.
