Warning: Depending on your definition of "spoilers", there might be a spoiler here. Tread carefully.
Like most other reviewers, I could not help but notice how "perfect" the future was, yet how much it resembled the 20th century. However, all that, IMO, is irrelevant to the plot.
Now, I haven't read Asimov's book (as a matter of fact, I had no idea this movie was based on a book till I logged on to IMDb), but even if I had, I wouldn't go in with the highest expectations, knowing how Hollywood mucks things up.
My parents, who have already watched this film, praised it quite highly, but my sister trashed it as boring. I went in with mediocre expectations, particularly because I don't have much affinity for movies dealing with artificial intelligence.
I was pleasantly surprised by the plot. Perhaps it's just me, but I really felt I could actually relate to the robot. I didn't care that it was Robin Williams. I didn't care the future was totally unrealistic. In a sense, I think I related to Andrew because of my personality; I'm awkward in social situations, and am always utterly agreeable.
I probably fell for the plot like a sucker, but I liked falling for it. Whatever superficial goofs the movie made were more than made up for me by the story, which I found brilliantly beautiful. I really cannot think of adjectives that would sufficiently describe it, but.... it's just something that really appealed to me.
Besides the similarities I found between myself and Andrew, I think I was also touched by many elements of the plot; independence, freedom, recognition, a spurned love...
And the philosophical issues, most imperatively. I've always enjoyed pondering the moral issues surrounding robots, immortality, and so on. I think that's probably what drew me in. Watching the people Andrew loved die was probably the part of the film that touched me most, because I'm a very nostalgic person at heart - I love recalling past incidents, people I knew... and I felt Andrew's pain at losing the people he loved most.
A lot of reviewers criticised this movie for its unrealistic portrayal of the future, its failure to properly adapt Asimov's book (from what I've heard about it, it does sound like a great pity, as the book seems more powerful), hell, even the music played.
But none of that stuff really matters to me. The story was quite philosophical, with all the touches of sentimentality that make me melt like butter in a frying pan. This movie is probably one of the most touching and brilliant dramas I've watched, outdoing A Beautiful Mind, my previous most favourite drama. Neither films are without flaws, but the stories, which is what a movie is about, are beautiful.
Like most other reviewers, I could not help but notice how "perfect" the future was, yet how much it resembled the 20th century. However, all that, IMO, is irrelevant to the plot.
Now, I haven't read Asimov's book (as a matter of fact, I had no idea this movie was based on a book till I logged on to IMDb), but even if I had, I wouldn't go in with the highest expectations, knowing how Hollywood mucks things up.
My parents, who have already watched this film, praised it quite highly, but my sister trashed it as boring. I went in with mediocre expectations, particularly because I don't have much affinity for movies dealing with artificial intelligence.
I was pleasantly surprised by the plot. Perhaps it's just me, but I really felt I could actually relate to the robot. I didn't care that it was Robin Williams. I didn't care the future was totally unrealistic. In a sense, I think I related to Andrew because of my personality; I'm awkward in social situations, and am always utterly agreeable.
I probably fell for the plot like a sucker, but I liked falling for it. Whatever superficial goofs the movie made were more than made up for me by the story, which I found brilliantly beautiful. I really cannot think of adjectives that would sufficiently describe it, but.... it's just something that really appealed to me.
Besides the similarities I found between myself and Andrew, I think I was also touched by many elements of the plot; independence, freedom, recognition, a spurned love...
And the philosophical issues, most imperatively. I've always enjoyed pondering the moral issues surrounding robots, immortality, and so on. I think that's probably what drew me in. Watching the people Andrew loved die was probably the part of the film that touched me most, because I'm a very nostalgic person at heart - I love recalling past incidents, people I knew... and I felt Andrew's pain at losing the people he loved most.
A lot of reviewers criticised this movie for its unrealistic portrayal of the future, its failure to properly adapt Asimov's book (from what I've heard about it, it does sound like a great pity, as the book seems more powerful), hell, even the music played.
But none of that stuff really matters to me. The story was quite philosophical, with all the touches of sentimentality that make me melt like butter in a frying pan. This movie is probably one of the most touching and brilliant dramas I've watched, outdoing A Beautiful Mind, my previous most favourite drama. Neither films are without flaws, but the stories, which is what a movie is about, are beautiful.