‘A-X-L’ is not anything truly special, but it does get us to care in the end

Posted on August 31, 2018

By MARK VIOLA

Just about every story I can think of that involves artificial intelligence deals with the idea of human-level intelligence. The reasons are pretty simple. Not only does that open the largest can of ethical worms, it’s also hard to take over the world otherwise, which is usually what happens in the end of such stories.

But what if a robot or program with artificial intelligence instead had the awareness and capabilities of say, a dog? Would it simply be property? Would it be a living thing? Would it have rights? We’re still debating the rights of actual animals, so you can imagine the quagmire a robotic dog would produce.

But, those questions are just some of the issues facing the characters in “A-X-L,” a better-than-expected movie from first-time feature writer and director Oliver Daley based on his short film, “Miles.” The story centers on Miles (Alex Neustadter, “Colony”), a teenager whose only ambition is motocross racing, which he sees as the only escape from his small-town existence. However, one day he encounters a robotic dog named A-X-L, who, unbeknownst to him, just escaped from a top-secret research facility where a military contractor is attempting to create the next great weapon for the army’s disposal.

Helping Miles figure out his next move is Sara (Becky G, “Power Rangers”), a friend of fellow motocross racer Sam (Alex MacNicoll, “Transparent”). Meanwhile, Andric (Dominic Rains, “Agent of SHIELD”), the team leader who developed the A-X-L program, is willing to do pretty much anything — and risk anyone — to get his creation back.

There really isn’t anything truly special about “A-X-L,” but there’s nothing especially bad either. We have a likeable main character in Miles, and the script does a good job of getting us to buy into his relationship with a robotic dog. Whenever the film concentrates on A-X-L’s place in the world, as well as Mile’s friendship with him, it holds up quite well. Where the story stumbles is when it turns its focus instead to Mile’s growing rivalry with Sam, who begins the film as a mostly believable rich teenager with an overbearing father before descending into a generic movie bad guy. His only real purpose in the movie is to provide a few extra action sequences that hold up a very uneven second act and serve as a bridge between the much better first and third acts.

 

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