I'm sorry, I love Burn Gorman and Charlie Day as much as the next person, but I have no time for this movie. I have no time for a movie that's all about robots punching monsters, only to realize in the last fifteen minutes that the robots have swords that work like a thousand times better than their little robot fists. Because that would only have saved tons of lives, right? I'm uncomfortable with the idea of drift compatibility, just as I was uncomfortable with the flying horses in Avatar, because I really don't like the concept of literally being in someone else's mind and having someone else in yours. Charlie Hunnam's accent slipped once every three and a half minutes, despite the fact that he's really good at an American accent on Sons of Anarchy. Overall, I guess I just didn't get it. I thought it was a subpar, goofy sci-fi action film, but it turns out that it actually has a pretty substantial following (all of whom, I'm sure, will love this article). Sure, I liked Ron Perlman and Charlie Day, and the little girl who played the young version of Mako was probably one of the best child actresses I've ever seen, but at the end of the day, is that enough? I don't know, I just left the film feeling like I had just consumed a lot of empty calories...none of it really stuck with me.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
