| RATING: | 40% |
| FORMAT: | DVD |
Fun, but rather bland entertainment helped along by a streak of humor a mile wide.
The absent-father sentiment is not of the kind made real by the likes of Steven Spielberg and is just a gimmick to sell a silly tale. The relationship between the boy and his robot is never credible because the man-machine lacks a father’s soul; indeed, any soul.
The idea that machines will replace people in sport is sheer nonsense - as if someone really believes video games will someday become a recognized Olympic event. Humans cannot empathize with machines - unless those humans are very, very lonely.
Making replicas of men is a Frankenstein-like attempt, by humans, to understand themselves, which will always fail when the machines are designed to do things men cannot. The worship of mechanocentrism rather than anthropocentric means Humankind belittled by its own inventions - not enhanced nor improved by them.
What really makes this movie interesting is that it reflects the present-day decline of interest in world boxing among Whites because of the lack of White contenders.
This decline is explained as a desire for no-holds barred boxing - to the death. Illogical, of course, since a robot cannot die because it never truly lives; killing any potential, gladiatorial suspense.
By removing the White obsession with skin color from the story, this becomes not a narrative of human ability, achievement and success, but one of technological substitutes for genetic inability. A kind of paean to drug cheats in athletics through the simple expedient of making the drugs (the delusion) lawful. Like Rocky IV, this story is about the difference between instinct (emotion) and pure technology.
Like the CGI in modern (2012) movies, the all-important human element is missing in the narrative. Emphasized by the cliche-ridden screenplay where - typically of Hollywood - emotions are always near the surface in true soap-opera style. A Rocky movie for people who do not like boxing - or reality.
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