Technology has loomed as a specter as far back as H.G. Wells writings in the 1890s. After the Atomic Age and as we entered the Cyber Age, technology has increasingly loomed large as a foe in pop culture. Now in the 2020’s more than ever AI is the big bad, which borders somewhere between trope and cliche as common as it is now. With the release of ‘Mrs. Davis’, ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’, and the forthcoming film ‘The Creator’, we thought this would be the perfect time to breakdown some of the many films and TV shows that feature humanity’s struggle against A.I.
2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey portrays a hypothetical timeline of what life could have been like now 22 years ago. Though there was a lot one could argue didn’t happen, it did do an excellent job of predicting the importance of robotics and A.I. in modern life. The film also understands the double edged sword as many see A.I. to be, as the space computer HAL 9000 famously revolts against the crew. “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that” is now a famous quote in our lexicon, and perhaps one that A.I. skeptics would like to keep front of mind as we seem to go full speed into the era of A.I.
Blade Runner
Many of the films on this list inherently see technology, and the evil A.I.s in particular, as an evolution of man’s own hubris where the film portrays technology mimicking humanity’s own worst impulses. However Blade Runner presents a more complex portrayal of A.I. and technology, as the replicants are both victim and foe in this film, and the identify between human and replicant is blurred. For this reason Blade Runner continues to be a touchstone in the sci-fi genre, and the world of robotics on screen, as more and more writers return to these complex themes in their portrayal of technology present and future.
The Matrix Franchise
The 1990s were a boom decade for Cyberpunk, a genre whose core thesis is to imagine what could go wrong if technology went too far, so its appropriate that the Wachowski’s The Matrix capped off the decade with its 1999 release. For a refresher The Matrix follows Neo (Keanu Reeves) as a programmer who follows the rabbit down the rabbit hole to Morpheus, when he blows Neo’s mind, and collectively ours in the audience, as he tells Neo that the world he knows isn’t the real world, he’s instead trapped in a simulation, and the real world is a post-apocalyptical space where machines and the few remaining human holdouts fight to this day. The Matrix not only introduced new concepts to the world such as ‘Red Pilled’ (for better or worse), but it also helped seque our pre-Millenium Cyberpunk with our 00s and on looks at sci-fi and A.I.
Ergo Proxy
Anime has long been a medium where cyberpunk has flourished, allowing for such seminal works as Akira, Armitage the III, and Ghost in the Shell, just to name a few. One series that took the mantle and ran with it in the early 2000s is Ergo Proxy. Ergo Proxy begins much like Blade Runner with Re-l, the protagonist, assigned to investigate the violent A.I.’s who are transforming from passive AutoReivs to violent, murderous killing machines thanks to the Cogito virus. Though perhaps even more convoluted than Blade Runner, thanks to its longer run as a TV series which allows for more side stories, Ergo Proxy also implores the audience to question the nature of humanity and robots.
Ex Machina
Alex Garland’s directorial debut Ex Machina, if we leave aside reports of his uncredited directing of 2012’s Dredd, takes a hard look at a ‘tech genius’, played by Oscar Isaac, and his attempt to play god through the creation of A.I., including most notably the humanoid robot Ava played by Alicia Vikander. Much like Blade Runner, Ex Machina questions what makes us human, and offers us to look at the perspective of the robots; however, Garland showcases that sometimes when we play god we take the worst of us as our clay, and in doing so we reap what we sow. Ex Machina’s ending will linger with you, as so many of these films do leaving more tough questions than easy answers.
Mrs. Davis
Mrs. Davis decided to explore two lofty ideas at the same time, religion and A.I., which seems appropriate the way we as a society feel both loom so large. Likewise it’s natural that for someone’s point of view, as they fret A.I. could replace so many jobs, that some might even fear A.I. would replace religion. In Mrs. Davis that is explored both in a contemplative manner and with full absurdity, as you might expect when you hear about a show where a nun shows off against an A.I. overlord. We loved Mrs. Davis as you can read in our review, and though we cannot say whether we’ll be discussing it a decade from now, its very of the moment and how we feel about A.I. in this present moment.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1
The latest in the longstanding Mission Impossible franchise, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, is yet another 2023 title that takes on the concept of an A.I. gone rogue. (No word if the A.I. does its own stunts though.) With a Part 2 on the way its clear the concept is not dead anytime soon, and though we’ll write a review on how effective we felt this is dealt with in this film, its clear more and more as A.I. enters our own life it’ll continue to be debated in discussed in film and TV as well as in our day-to-day conversations.
