Automata (2014) [Blu-ray]
Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline: Your time is coming to an end. Ours is now beginning.

In a future where Earth's ecosystem verges on collapse and man-made robots roam the city, one man (Antonio Banderas) must evaluate and eliminate the profound consequences of artificial intelligence on human existence.

Storyline: Jacq Vaucan is an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation who investigates cases of robots violating their primary protocols against harming humans. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, November 15, 2014 -- Man's obsession with change -- and negative change, in particular -- traces back pretty much as long as he's walked the planet. With the great technological and scientific advances of the past century or so, aligning with the development and rapid advances in and popularity of the cinematic art form, that obsession has only increased with the rise of the atomic age and its consequences depicted on the silver screen, spawning everything form tales of city-destorying radioactive monsters to man's use of that technology to ward off extinction-level events ("nuke it to save the day" rather than "nuke it to end the world" has become a fairly popular Disaster movie theme). Now that the Cold War and the very real threat of imminent nuclear annihilation has passed (at least the Cold War that effectively ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, anyway), that obsession with negative change has gravitated towards societal collapse, zombies, post-apocaylptic landscapes, and general dystopian visions of the future, with themes of advanced technologies overrunning man and his better judgment, or in some way negatively transforming man, often at the center of the stories. Movies like The Terminator and I, Robot have depicted a future world in which man's interactions with machines have taken a turn for the worst, with the machines more a hindrance than a help when self-awareness and some form of artificial consciousness effectively overwrites man's original programing and purposes for those machines. Director Gabe Ibáñez's (Hierro) Automata takes another glimpse into a devastated future landscape where the human population has dwindled and a robotic population has risen to fill some of the voids left behind in the wake of disaster.

Jacq Vaucan (Antonio Banderas) works as a claims specialist for a robotics company called "ROC," an outfit that builds advanced humanoid robots, including the popular Automata Pilgrim 7000 model. The robots were designed to help reinforce and rebuild Earth, in the simplest terms, following a near-future catastrophic string of solar flares that decimated the population and regressed much of man's technological progress. The robots are programmed to neither hurt humans nor to alter their programming in any way. Jacq is one day alerted that a robot has been altered to smuggle parts. Though burned out with the job, he's offered the relocation he and his pregnant wife (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) desire if he can satisfactorily solve the case. As he digs deeper towards the truth, he's faced with a new reality and a life-and-death scenario that will reshape his opinion of robotics and the people for whom he works.

Automata's well defined vision of a dystopian, sparsely populated, hopeless, and robot-filled future is well conceived, constructed, and executed, playing as something of a classic dark noir detective story with a bleakly futuristic overlay. The film finds depth of reality in its environments, a tangible sense of advancement equaled by a palpable feeling of emptiness even where structures still stand, where holograms maneuver through a city like Godzilla, in open country where the sun and the impending onset of certain death are the only constants. But the film knows that superficialities are just that, supporting pieces enhancing a greater story. The question, then, is whether all that mileage the movie gets out of an obviously lower budget -- the movie feels bigger than it is -- can be topped by the greater story and dramatic and thematic arcs that flow through it. The answer is yes, if only sometimes barely. The picture is mildly interesting, and consistently so, as it traverses through material that's not necessarily familiar but not on the cutting edge of cinematic novelty either. The movie explores themes of life and death, specifically what it means to be alive and dead beyond the casual organic definitions of the words. There are subtly and not-so-subtly-woven analyses on the risks and rewards of advanced technologies capable of self-determination, even if that capability has supposedly been worked out of the equation. The film paints the picture of a fascinating future world and might have benefited from a lengthier and more thorough exploration of all it encompasses, but as it is, and even considering the fairly basic -- though still interesting and even relevant -- themes it explores, it manages to satisfy requirements even if it leaves a bit to be desired by the end.

The inclusion of real robotics rather than artificial, inorganic, unbelievable digital robots -- even in 2014 digital still can't replace the real thing, and Automata is proof-positive -- is a major asset, not only providing the film's human actors something tangible to play against, but something tangible with which the audience can more easily relate and identify. The robots move robotically and behave in a decidedly robotic manner. The real robots lend a greater sense of believability to the movie. Their limitations both physical and verbal provide a greater dramatic complexity by way of helping to actually make the line between man and machine more pronounced, not more blurred as it might be in a film where they speak like a human and move like some creature uninhibited by the laws of physics. Audiences will come to feel a connection with the machines, not a passing familiarity with them, and in Automata that's arguably the most important element in defining the movie's deeper levels. The movie practically moves at the robot's pace, particularly in its second half, which helps shape the characters and bend the more subtle aspects of its story into contextual shape. In that way, this is a moodier, more contemplative film, one not so much defined by the promise of grizzled gun-wielding action hinted at on the poster art (though there is some of that) but a deeper, more reflective style that's arguably just as enjoyable after the fact as during playback. Antonio Banderas delivers a fine performance, completely out of his comfort zone and seeming to exist as part of the world in which he lives, almost blending into it, in a way, both considering his outward appearance and his more intimate journey that plays out throughout the movie's runtime.

Automata may best described as Blade Runner meets I, Robot on the simplest of terms. The film doesn't lack depth but it doesn't exactly tread brand-new ground, either. It looks good, plays well, the real robots are a great asset, and Banderas is excellent in the lead. It's not a perfect film but rather a solid one, a movie that will challenge viewers during and after alike. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Automata features fair video, solid audio, and one extra. Recommended.

[CSW] -1.7- The idea and premise are great--it just feels like that idea went from just that, straight to 'let's make this a movie' without any real content. Unfortunately this film fell short of delivering anything on those concepts. Somehow shouting at unemotional robots seemed completely misguided and lacked any cohesiveness. This was a good idea that was a truly wasted in the attempt. For me not even late night television when I can't sleep would have me watching this again.
Netflix Streaming (HD) - No D-Box.
{[V3.0-A3.5] MPEG-4 AVC}


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