Automata
is a movie starring
Antonio Banderas, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, and Dylan McDermott.
Jacq Vaucan is an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation who investigates cases of robots violating their primary protocols against altering themselves. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.
In 2044, solar storms have killed 99.7 % of the world's population and only 21 million people survive. The ROC Corporation has designed and built robots called Automata Pilgrim 7000 to help to rebuild the world. These robots have two security protocols; they can neither harm humans nor alter themselves or other robots. When police officer Sean Wallace shoots a robot and claims that it was altering itself, ROC insurance agent Jacq Vaucan is placed in charge of the investigation. Soon he believes that there is a "clocksmith" illegally modifying the robots. Jacq wants to live in the coast and asks his boss and friend Robert Bold to transfer him with his pregnant wife Rachel Vaucan to the coast. Robert offers the possibility if Jacq resolves the case. Jacq and Wallace go to a brothel where the modified robot Cleo attends and Wallace shoots its leg, expecting that the owner will lead them to the clocksmith. They meet Duprè but she is not the clocksmith that is modifying the robots. Soon ...Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Around 37:30, Dr. Susan Dupré (Melanie Griffith) suggests that man has evolved from monkeys what does not agree with the theory of evolution: humans and monkeys both evolved from a common, now extinct, ancestor. See more »
Quotes
Jacq Vaucan:
I am going to die here. That's all I know.
Blue Robot:
Jacq, dying is a part of the human natural cycle. Your life is just a span in time.
Jacq Vaucan:
You are the first one, aren't you? You started all this.
Blue Robot:
No one did it. It just happened. The way it happened to you. We just appeared.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Under 'special thanks' in the credits, "power-horse" energy drink is listed See more »
Soundtracks
The Arrival Of The Queen Sheba
Written by George Frideric Handel (as G.F. Handel)
Arranged by Irving Washington
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music See more »
Banderas' attempt at a sci-fi flick has great potential but it ultimately falls flat.
It's not because of the story. Although the trailer makes it clear that we're dealing with a recycled idea from Asimov's universe (robots that become more human than some humans), the movie barely scratches the surface of the issues at hand and chooses a middle path between a serious deep movie and an action flick and fails at both.
Banderas' character is the only one that interesting and it's easy to follow him and his point of view all the way from a corporate lackey to a guy involved in some ethical dilemmas. He acts well, way better than the movie average.
The first problem is that there aren't any other well-drawn characters. Everyone else is flat, starting from his family, his boss and his opponents. To call them one-dimensional is giving them too much credit, I would say they are soulless and at some point I was really hoping for them to just die and leave us with the robots and Banderas. I can't fault the actors much, it's the script that didn't give them any chance.
The second problem is the plot. Although the story has potential, the plot fails at acquiring it. It won't take long to see that at some point the actions of the 'bad guys' really stop making sense, they are there just as a really poor excuse for some lame attempts at action sequences (I'm not going to detail this as to not give spoilers, suffice to say that the main pretext for the confrontation between the bad guys and Banderas is not necessary at all, if you stop to think about it for a minute given the situation of the humans in the movie and whatnot).
The last one is the soundtrack. It's absolutely atrocious and the sound doesn't fit with the images at all, especially the music sequences.
I will admit that the movie is entertaining for the most part. But that's it. It wastes an amazing potential, fails to explore itself and just throws some lines and some action at you that lacks logic, common sense and characters (save for Banders and the robots).
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Banderas' attempt at a sci-fi flick has great potential but it ultimately falls flat.
It's not because of the story. Although the trailer makes it clear that we're dealing with a recycled idea from Asimov's universe (robots that become more human than some humans), the movie barely scratches the surface of the issues at hand and chooses a middle path between a serious deep movie and an action flick and fails at both.
Banderas' character is the only one that interesting and it's easy to follow him and his point of view all the way from a corporate lackey to a guy involved in some ethical dilemmas. He acts well, way better than the movie average.
The first problem is that there aren't any other well-drawn characters. Everyone else is flat, starting from his family, his boss and his opponents. To call them one-dimensional is giving them too much credit, I would say they are soulless and at some point I was really hoping for them to just die and leave us with the robots and Banderas. I can't fault the actors much, it's the script that didn't give them any chance.
The second problem is the plot. Although the story has potential, the plot fails at acquiring it. It won't take long to see that at some point the actions of the 'bad guys' really stop making sense, they are there just as a really poor excuse for some lame attempts at action sequences (I'm not going to detail this as to not give spoilers, suffice to say that the main pretext for the confrontation between the bad guys and Banderas is not necessary at all, if you stop to think about it for a minute given the situation of the humans in the movie and whatnot).
The last one is the soundtrack. It's absolutely atrocious and the sound doesn't fit with the images at all, especially the music sequences.
I will admit that the movie is entertaining for the most part. But that's it. It wastes an amazing potential, fails to explore itself and just throws some lines and some action at you that lacks logic, common sense and characters (save for Banders and the robots).