This director has done exceptional work previously, ("Amelie","Delicatessen"), but here his satire and cleverness don't quite seem to hit the mark.
The plot concerns a loose family unit (I think the term is "blended family") of well meaning suburban light-weights who go through an ordeal when the AI around them (both inside the house and out in the city) turn on them. This isn't quite as grim as it sounds, because the household devices still like their humans and are quite devoted to them...but what with one thing and another, the 7 humans end up locked inside their own house while the android revolution takes place mostly offscreen and is reported on the news.
This scenario has lots of potential, but it mostly goes to waste - no one really suffers (although they become very uncomfortable), and when the outside androids come in to throw their weight around, they mostly just burn books and take away politically incorrect collectibles, etc. There may be a parable here (i.e., nothing important ever happens in the suburbs), but it wasn't really enough to drive the movie.
The blended family members are reasonably likable, and they don't turn on each other or anything, and that lack of internal conflict may be the real problem: for all the talk of revolution, it's like the movie doesn't really want anything really bad to happen.
On a positive note: the art and production design is fun to look at, as are the household AI's and the mean Androids. The acting is skilled and appropriate, and you can listen to the actors in their native French with subtitles, which is always better than a dub. Within a fairly dull "mission" (escaping house arrest), there are some twists and turns, and some give and take between the family members.
So...I don't know. Mostly harmless? Too lightweight to bother hating? A disposable trifle to amuse fans and followers of a famous director's work?
How about...not bad. But maybe a little more heft next time.
The plot concerns a loose family unit (I think the term is "blended family") of well meaning suburban light-weights who go through an ordeal when the AI around them (both inside the house and out in the city) turn on them. This isn't quite as grim as it sounds, because the household devices still like their humans and are quite devoted to them...but what with one thing and another, the 7 humans end up locked inside their own house while the android revolution takes place mostly offscreen and is reported on the news.
This scenario has lots of potential, but it mostly goes to waste - no one really suffers (although they become very uncomfortable), and when the outside androids come in to throw their weight around, they mostly just burn books and take away politically incorrect collectibles, etc. There may be a parable here (i.e., nothing important ever happens in the suburbs), but it wasn't really enough to drive the movie.
The blended family members are reasonably likable, and they don't turn on each other or anything, and that lack of internal conflict may be the real problem: for all the talk of revolution, it's like the movie doesn't really want anything really bad to happen.
On a positive note: the art and production design is fun to look at, as are the household AI's and the mean Androids. The acting is skilled and appropriate, and you can listen to the actors in their native French with subtitles, which is always better than a dub. Within a fairly dull "mission" (escaping house arrest), there are some twists and turns, and some give and take between the family members.
So...I don't know. Mostly harmless? Too lightweight to bother hating? A disposable trifle to amuse fans and followers of a famous director's work?
How about...not bad. But maybe a little more heft next time.