A.I. Rising

A Serbian Film (no not THAT one) about a man on an isolated spaceship, his only companion a female Android. Right off the bat, I have to admit there are specifically two points this SF feature got right: lighting and sound design. These two things genuinely enhanced the atmosphere of the movie and made you engaged in the universe it created. So many big budget SF movies Hollywood pukes out these days just fail to realize the importance of these two attributes in the genre. The premise, coming from a Socialist country, seems a bit .. of a stretch. Apparently , Capitalism is a plague in the future that has even infected whole galaxies and it is up to the ever righteous Ederlezi Corporation to send social engineers to these space colonies to restore normalcy the socialist way. That being said, I really wouldn't have had a problem of they actually fleshed out this premise even more. Instead, the film chooses to mainly concentrate on the chemistry between the cosmonaut and his robot sex partner. Which I guess wasn't bad on its own.

The robot is played by an actual pornographic actress, the beautiful and enchanting Stoya, so there is absolutely no body double or vfx used during the sex scenes. Also, she is naked most of the time even when the script didn't call for a sex scene. However, I admire that her particular athletic,not voluptuous, figure and the incredible lighting actually transcends any sleaziness and gives her a more sublime aura. It helps amplify the other worldliness instead of just being gratuitous nudity.

All in all, considering the low budget, I am very impressed. We genuinely need more atmospheric sci fi instead of another season of Star Trek Discovery.

So this movie was okay... but it could have been so much more. The only reason I didn't turn it off right away is because it set a really good atmosphere with some of the shots and good sound.

Then it kind of devolves into a bland movie with bland acting, could of been really good but it just lost me after 30 mins probably would of excelled as a short film.

I TRIED to like this movie. And I watched it all the way thru but I had to make myself. I was confused for most of the movie what the theme was. The very beginning introduction about capitalism and socialism did not make much sense and was never explained or brought up again. The story is VERY vague. There is little input to allow us into the thoughts of the characters and very little conversation. I never knew what they were thinking. Every other scene was a sex scene. And in between those scenes the same scene of the android standing naked with lights moving about her was repeated over and over as well.. I suppose she was being charged? The acting was barely ok. The serbian accents made it difficult to understand what they were saying. I would of preferred the actors spoke in their native language, and provided subtitles.... maybe it would of felt more genuine. The setting was a space ship that appeared to have 2 rooms? The corporation that was financing the trip could afford an android, but the ship looked old and dark? This movie never came together for me. At the end I was bored to tears. No action. No plot. No theme. No story. No reason. Vague Vague Vague.

I was thinking this was going to be a pretty good sci fi....It started out well but became tedious to watch very quickly. This could have been a really good movie about a pilot and the A.I. but because a soft pornographic movie. It evolved around sex between the two, maybe that was the point but it was just repetitive to me to watch. I stayed until the end but came away with nothing. I know it was a low budget movie, and that is ok with me. Only 4 different actors including the voice of the computer..and that was ok also. I like those kind of movies and they can be done really well but, this was just not one of them. The story and the performances just were not good enough. I gave it a 5 for some of the visuals which I did like even though there were only 4 or 5 sets in the whole movie. Sorry I just didn't like this one.

I'll try to be as objective as possible, therefore even though I am from Serbia I won't give this movie a pass "just because it's ours" or because of its' small budget. Also, no spoilers.

At first I was very surprised by the visuals - the movie started and it looked genuinely good...at first, before you realize that the filmmakers had only 2, maybe 3 small sets and that the film is visually very repetitive (even some of the same shots are used multiple times). That in itself isn't such a huge issue, seeing how there are plenty of films that take place in a single location but they compensate for their visual simplicity with an interesting story and engaging performances, something that's very much lacking here. As for the visual effects, they are ok by early 2000s standards.

The music was good and well implemented. The standout piece for me is Arvo Part's "My Heart's in the Highlands" which was also used in "The Great Beauty" (a good film worth checking out if you're not into conventional films or if you're a fan of Fellini).

The performances are not great. Sebastian Cavazza's performance as the astronaut Milutin is either bad or at best mediocre (I don't know if I can blame him, the director or the poor script for that). Milutin has no real depth and I struggle to describe his personality beyond saying that he's an astronaut with a gruff voice who swears a lot and is horny (oh, and a bit sad, I guess). At one point in the movie we are told that he's severely depressed and if it weren't for that line I would have never guessed that that's where he's at emotionally, you just can't feel it. The few times Cavazza tries to convey emotions that aren't anger and frustration his performance is borderline laughable. Stoya, who plays the part of Nimani, did her job...ok. She plays the part of an emotionless android with a few preprogrammed emotional settings well enough, nothing noteworthy though.

The story is very derivative. If you've seen a film that deals with AI than there's nothing here that you haven't seen before and done way better. The plot is bare bones and shallow with plenty of meandering (albeit aesthetically pleasing) shots of the same 2 (or 3) sets of the ship or of Nimani standing/sleeping/levitating around the ship - shots that don't progress the plot in any way or give any information to the viewer - they're just there to stretch the runtime of the movie. The questions this film raises are raised in other, better movies/TV shows (most notably "Her", "Ex Machina", both "Blade Runner" movies and "Westworld") and done so with more nuance. If you're someone who just wants to watch a movie to pass the time you'll probably find this movie boring and bland, on the other hand if you're someone who wants to experience a deep and meaningful film you'll find it lacking as well.