I, Robot (2014)

After wading through all those massive summer blockbusters and even some of those high-brow "art house" flicks, there’s one movie that really slipped under the radar for me. I'm talking about the sci-fi flick Automata, starring Antonio Banderas.



In this one, Banderas plays a futuristic insurance agent working for a company that manufactures robots. Things get messy when he uncovers a string of illegal modifications being made to the machines, triggering a chain reaction that could seriously jeopardize the future of humanity.

The film is directed by Gabe Ibáñez, and the cast is actually pretty solid—you've got Birgitta Hjort Sørensen, Melanie Griffith, Dylan McDermott, Robert Forster, and Tim McInnerny joining the Unknown. It's an American-led production, and it's slated to hit theaters this October.

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It feels like they’re just ripping off I, Robot and The Machine—but honestly, I guess it doesn't matter too much since there isn't enough sci-fi in it anyway...

Ethan Jones98 said:It feels like they’re just ripping off I, Robot and The Machine—but honestly, I guess it doesn't matter too much since there isn't enough sci-fi in it anyway...

And honestly, there’s a bit of Blade Runner vibes in there too.

Is dealing with artificial intelligence just a fancy way of saying we're obsessed with copying?

Kara

Sandra Brown10 I guess—if you could even call it that—it seems like... maybe?
Is dealing with AI essentially just a matter of copying—I guess maybe?

Not really, though—if you look at how many movies there are following this exact same pattern—it’s quite a few, I guess.

• People just happen to accidentally create a conscious AI—I guess that's always how it starts.
• I suppose people aren't always kind to AI—it seems like there's a bit of a lack of respect there, maybe?
• Maybe AI might rebel—I guess.
• Maybe the hero saves the AI—or perhaps the AI turns out to be the villain, leaving the hero to fight against it. I guess it really depends on how you look at things.

🤷 I suppose Oblivion is one of those rare exceptions—though I guess the first three points don't really apply here.

Ethan Jones98 said:

Sandra Brown10 I guess—if you could even call it that—it seems like... maybe?
Is dealing with AI essentially just a matter of copying—I guess maybe?

Not really, though—if you look at how many movies there are following this exact same pattern—it’s quite a few, I guess.

• People just happen to accidentally create a conscious AI—I guess that's always how it starts.
• I suppose people aren't always kind to AI—it seems like there's a bit of a lack of respect there, maybe?
• Maybe AI might rebel—I guess.
• Maybe the hero saves the AI—or perhaps the AI turns out to be the villain, leaving the hero to fight against it. I guess it really depends on how you look at things.

🤷 I suppose Oblivion is one of those rare exceptions—though I guess the first three points don't really apply here.

It’s just the typical tropes of Western cinema wrapped up in a sci-fi skin. That’s why I don't think we're looking at "copying" here—it's just your run-of-the-mill American movie logic. 🤷

Underwhelming. I expected much more from this.

Pure despair. It’s just a messy, disjointed slog with a plot that’s as predictable as they come. Banderas does his job well enough, I suppose, but everything else about this is just... profoundly bad. Honestly, what a waste of a perfectly good afternoon. 3/10. And Melanie Griffith? She makes a brief appearance and looks like the Joker from Batman... absolutely horrific.

It’s almost impossible not to draw comparisons to *I, Robot* and *Transcendence*. Honestly, if you could somehow blend those three movies together, you might actually end up with one definitive, top-tier masterpiece about AI. It’s been a while since I sat down to watch *I, Robot*, so some of the finer plot points have slipped my mind, but I think I actually prefer this one. There's a sense of realism here that hits differently. On the flip side, the movie tries to juggle way too much at once. Trying to tackle an ecological disaster, the distant future, and the complexities of AI all in one go is a massive ask for a single film. I've always felt it's more effective when a movie picks one specific niche and nails it—kind of like how *Gattaca* does.

dustyfalcon3 said:Pure despair. It’s just a messy, disjointed slog with a plot that’s as predictable as they come. Banderas does his job well enough, I suppose, but everything else about this is just... profoundly bad. Honestly, what a waste of a perfectly good afternoon. 3/10. And Melanie Griffith? She makes a brief appearance and looks like the Joker from Batman... absolutely horrific.

The only unpredictable thing about it is how nothing interesting actually happens. You keep waiting for something to click... but that's what happens when some wannabe artist tries to make a movie.

Just finished watching it and man, what a ride. It was great. I’m still scratching my head over one thing, though. So, people build this AI, realize it's way too smart for their own good, and decide to pull the plug. But instead of just stopping, they end up building this limited "brain" for a robot. My question is: who actually started changing them in the first place? And how did that hooded robot out in the desert even end up there?

honestly, I liked the movie... definitely worth a watch for anyone... not really worth getting hung up on the plot holes, there are plenty of great films out there anyway

mistyseal8 said:It’s almost impossible not to draw comparisons to *I, Robot* and *Transcendence*. Honestly, if you could somehow blend those three movies together, you might actually end up with one definitive, top-tier masterpiece about AI. It’s been a while since I sat down to watch *I, Robot*, so some of the finer plot points have slipped my mind, but I think I actually prefer this one. There's a sense of realism here that hits differently. On the flip side, the movie tries to juggle way too much at once. Trying to tackle an ecological disaster, the distant future, and the complexities of AI all in one go is a massive ask for a single film. I've always felt it's more effective when a movie picks one specific niche and nails it—kind of like how *Gattaca* does.

Man, I haven't seen that in forever... but what part of AI is even in Gattaca? Isn't that just about genetic superiority and stuff? 🤔

redfox5 said:Man, I haven't seen that in forever... but what part of AI is even in Gattaca? Isn't that just about genetic superiority and stuff? 🤔

Not really. "Gattaca" was all about genetic engineering—that was its sole focus. It didn't dive into social structures, ecology, or anything else. It’s a bit like "Blade Runner," which stays strictly focused on what it means to be human.

It’s been a long time since I sat through a sci-fi movie this bad. Honestly, everything about this flick falls flat, with the sole exception being Forstera and his performance.

The plot is dragged out, half-baked, and just poorly explained. As for the characters? A total disaster. Take his "token" wife—she’s basically just there to serve as a plot device to motivate the lead in the final act. The acting is subpar, Griffith is so heavily processed you can barely recognize him, and that ending felt incredibly forced. You're better off skipping this one entirely.

Sophia Thomas7 said:It’s been a long time since I sat through a sci-fi movie this bad. Honestly, everything about this flick falls flat, with the sole exception being Forstera and his performance.

The plot is dragged out, half-baked, and just poorly explained. As for the characters? A total disaster. Take his "token" wife—she’s basically just there to serve as a plot device to motivate the lead in the final act. The acting is subpar, Griffith is so heavily processed you can barely recognize him, and that ending felt incredibly forced. You're better off skipping this one entirely.

you must be fun at parties..🙄

I just finished watching this movie, and while it touches on themes similar to the legendary Blade Runner, the robots end up looking like nothing more than dehumanized scrap metal. It actually starts off quite intriguing, but after about thirty minutes, the momentum just fades away. By the time you get to the end, it’s honestly pretty bad—below even the standard for low-budget B-movies. It feels like they were so starved for a budget that everything was executed without an ounce of imagination or style.

I really went in with low expectations, and yet, I still found myself disappointed.
3/10

I think I’ve mentioned before that this movie just isn't working for me. It feels like a weak attempt by Banderasov to force that plastic-looking actress into the mix. While I agree the film tries to lean on those classic sci-fi tropes, it does so in a pretty tedious way. If the story had been more fleshed out or intelligently directed, I might have looked past those terrible robots, but seeing these supposedly "advanced" machines that look like they were cobbled together in a middle school shop class... well, it's a thumbs down from me. I'd rather just grab a beer and look out the window.

People will move on from this pretty quickly.