It’s 2032, and we’ve already outlawed body-double robots. Think about that. That’s just eight years away. Less than a decade. One Obama era from now. And the writers here are so down on AI they envision that android doubles will be invented, perfected, mass employed, abused, and inevitably outlawed. To me, that like finding out that eight years from now, flying cars will be outlawed. Or teleporters. Or telepathic routers.
Anticipating technological innovation is nothing new in film; nor is anticipating illegal use of that tech. But that makers of Robots have already envisioned a world so cynical that the tech will be illegal pretty much as soon as it’s legal. Do you have an android double? Do you know how to get a robot you? I sure as heck don’t, nor do anticipate being able to do so in the next eight years. It’s possible I’m a man of no vision.
Elaine (Shailene Woodley) and Charles (Jack Whitehall) both employ illegal robot doubles. Charles is introduced to us first as a truly loathsome human being – his robot double does all the work, doing his job, and making his money. After “C2” brings home the baconator, “he” becomes the ultimate wing man. Acting as Charles, C2 dates women that Charles wants to have sex with. C2 does all the hard work of dating and when the woman is “ready,” you see, Charles steps in and enjoys the “fruit” of C2’s labor.
By contrast, Elaine is simply a run-of-the-mill grifter. E2, posing as Elaine, dates many men at the same time
, has sex with them, cajoles expensive trinkets, which then get turned into cash. While both leads are using Robots to exploit sex, I find hers the far less problematic of the two. Yes, it still involves manipulation, but all Elaine the human gets out of it is money, not sex, which seems more like a bait-and-switch bartering agreement than something truly deplorable. You might see it differently.
Point is, these two are probably made for one another, so it makes sense that eventually they’ll meet and play their games on each other. That makes sense, truly. It’s a true showdown of Womanizer v. Gold Digger. Will this lead to hot robot on robot action? You know it!
Robots is both cute and clumsy. I think the film wants us to find the leads more charming than criminal, which just isn’t possible. I mean, are we supposed to feel sorry these folks when they get caught? Are we supposed to root for them? Yes, it’s a little funny when we get to the, “We’re BOTH faking it?!” moment, but -overall- I kinda found it hard to root for either human in this comedy, and you can’t really root for the robots, either, who are just the ultimate versions of the flawed humans. And I can see why this silly future society made illegal the use of android body doubles. I just don’t see it happening in the next eight years.
The once was this woman, Elaine
Who sold sex for monetary gain
Was she a whore?
Right down to her core
Yet her double felt all of the pain
Rated R, 93 Minutes
Director: Casper Christensen, Anthony Hines
Writer: Robert Sheckley, Anthony Hines, Casper Christensen
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Incels
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Those who fear the AI revolution
