A beautiful looking, impressively rendered future world with strong, earnest performances can't really save this from being a bit too much of a boys-own-adventure style story, with tons of daring do, last minute saves, heroic sacrifices, slightly incompetent villains when needed and oodles of rip-roaring action. Sadly the characters are two-dimensional and the story tropes a little too generic to elevate this to something extraordinary.
That's not to say it's not enjoyable, it is, it's just a tad too obvious and on the nose. The story set in the near future when mankind wages a war against AI robots sees our hero Joshua Taylor(John David Washington), an undercover marine infiltrating an AI robotic research station in search of the legendary creator and falling in love, and marrying, his daughter, Maya Fey (Gemma Chan). However when a marine assault on the AI base results in the apparent death of his now pregnant wife, Taylor is grief stricken and sent Stateside to clean up the radioactive wasteland that is LA following a nuclear strike launched by the AI.
Five years later, Taylor is recruited back into his old squad to hunt down the AI's new and ultimate weapon, one that could in one fell swoop end the war. However when he discovers that his dead wife might not be quite so dead and the ultimate weapon is actually a child he grabs the kid and goes on the run in search of answers with both the forces of mankind and AI hot on their trail. All the while the massive orbiting defence platform NOMAD orbits the globe launching missile attacks...
Heavily inspired by the likes of Blade Runner (which this could easily be a sequel too, especially if you replaced its AI robots and simulants with Replicants) and Akira, and using the Vietnam war as a major primer this is a solid sf war film directed well by Gareth Edwards. With great art direction, design, camera work, cinematography and featuring a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer that impresses because of how utterly unobtrusive it is.
There's lots to like, so it's a shame this doesn't pack more of a punch, it's somewhat disappointing, the story doesn't feel that fresh and characters are reduced to the level of NPCs. Ideas are quickly introduced and then dispensed with some times too early and there's no time to explore before the next shoot-out or explosion.
Following the three act structure of Syd Field this chugs along to the obligatory final act which won't come to a surprise to anyone and then promptly ends. Nothing to hate, nothing to loathe, very well made if a little generic.
8/10
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