Elliott Smith

Broad sci-fi genre gets bogged down by mediocre movies

ELLIOTT SMITH

Originally published Friday, March 15, 2002

Science fiction is one of those film genres that's really hard to categorize. Is it represented by the space epics of the "Star Wars" trilogy, the moral questions of "Blade Runner" or the action mythos of the "Highlander" films?

Being all over the map is both a blessing and a curse. Real sci-fi fans are often let down by what's promoted as the latest and greatest of their genre, while the casual viewer can often pick and choose what they watch without having to delve too deeply into the sci-fi culture.

One of the most eagerly anticipated films of last summer was the Steven Spielberg-Stanley Kubrick opus A.I. -- ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (PG) **, which promised to meld the dystopian vision of the deceased Kubrick with the fantasy worlds that Spielberg excels in creating.

In the future, scientists have created a world filled with robots. These beings fulfill every need imaginable, from domestic work to sex. The latest creation, however, is the one that stirs the most interest.

David (Haley Joel Osment) is a robot child built to "love" its human parents, thanks in part to a special code that it must hear in order to turn on its feelings. When placed with the Swintons (Frances O'Connor and Sam Robards), David begins to fit in, only to have his affections turned away by an unseen development.

Abandoned, David decides to go on a quest to become "real" so his mother can love him again. During his journey, he meets up with pleasure-bot Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) and goes on a voyage of discovery and danger.

Let's start with the good. Osment delivers another brilliant performance as the lovesick robot, although he continues to be one of the scariest people on the planet. (I don't know what it is about this kid, but he freaks me out.)

Law shows a lot of personality as Gigolo Joe, and frankly, his scenes are among the best in the film. The grim fairy tale elements of the movie work well, as David's quest is fraught with scenes I could imagine Kubrick truly enjoying.

But -- and it's a big but -- I can't wholly recommend this film thanks in part to one of the absolute worst finales I have seen in quite sometime. The final 45 minutes are excruciatingly bad, destroying any positive thoughts that had been building over the course of the movie.

Jet Li, newest sci-fi superstar? Well, that's what he'd like you to think after THE ONE (R) * 1/2, but this headache-inducing test of will won't get the job done.

Li stars as Yu Law, a time-traveling evildoer who has somehow managed to kill all his personalities across 123 different alternate versions of our universe. Why, pray tell?

Well, when you take out yourself you gain some sort of life force, becoming stronger and faster, a trait that comes in handy for Yu Law when he's beating up people at will and smashing cops with motorcycles.

Teamed to stop him are The Wily Veteran Cop (Delroy Lindo) and The Brash Rookie (Jason Statham), who travel to what is supposedly our universe to stop Yu Law from killing his final alter ego, Gabriel Law, a Los Angeles police officer.

For such a complex (and often confusing) setup, there really isn't much payoff, as everything builds toward the inevitable Jet Li vs. Jet Li showdown. Lindo is wasted in a brief role, and Carla Gugino looks completely uncomfortable as Gabriel's wife, as the pair have zero chemistry.

But really, you're not going to rent a Jet Li movie for complex character development, are you? It's all about the fights. Unfortunately, a barrage of special effects render any of Li's martial-arts wizardry to a mere sideshow.

Animation has always put science-fiction tales to good use, as fantastical worlds and beings can be created with relative ease.

So maybe that's the problem with FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (PG-13) **, a movie that prided itself on the realism of its characters and situations, but left any kind of story behind.

The latest digital technology went into the creation of the film, and the people and places really do have a lifelike feel that makes it worth watching. But the plot! Something about alien invaders and a ragtag group of soldiers out to reclaim Earth from them, mixed in with some Eastern mumbo-jumbo and ... yawn!

It doesn't work. Plus, the celebrity voices are somewhat distracting. It's cool to hear Eddie Murphy's voice come out of a donkey, but hearing Alec Baldwin's distinctive tenor coming out of a man who sorta looks like Baldwin 20 years ago is a little weird.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who wasn't enthralled by this new vision of film, as "Final Fantasy" only recouped $32 million of its $137 million budget and put Square Pictures out of business after only one movie. Ouch!

Elliott Smith is a sportswriter for The Olympian by night and The Video Guy even later at night. Readers may send comments or suggestions to esmith@olympia.gannett.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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