A-X-L (2018)

Dear movie freaks, for me AXL is not 100% Sci Fi movie because the touch of the drama is so high, then the main story of what happened to a young boy finding a super secret military weapon, apparently in the body shape of a dog, could find a way to escape from the law and highly officials. This movie has simple story, but evolved in some scenes to be more intense with young audience, especially Sci Fi lover. At least, there is several scenes that explain the Sci Fi part, but the whole idea is not science at all. It is totally drama, but AXL is everybody's movie, quite tense, and sad. The saddest part is how the new owner of this robotic dog must realize that the connection human-robot is real and how he can survive without any accusations against him.

Fmovies: If you go into this movie not expecting much, you'll probably walk out think "it wasn't bad". In fact, it's not a bad movie and decent movie for kids (over 8).. and certainly reasonable for adults to watch. The premise (without spoiling the movie) is more along the lines of the 80's film "Short Circuit". A robot built for war but with more to it than destructive programming. Effects were decent enough. Motorcycle riding/stunts were actually very cool. Looking for a decent little "Sunday afternoon movie for the family"? This would probably work.

A-X-L is about a young teenage boy who is very into motorcycle racing. He encounters a top secret robotic dog with an AI system who eventually befriends it. He teaches it how to be good and to distinguish right and wrong. However, after some antics, the government and the creators begin to interfere.

Going in, I didn't expect anything spectacular. From what I could gather from the previews, it seemed like a by the numbers kids flick. In some ways, I wasn't wrong, and I do think that kids will enjoy it. It is a competently made film with its small pluses. It has good cinematography, decent pacing, a far better score than this movie deserves and I feel like it does try with the script.

However, this movie suffers from some major problems. For example, it has a romance plot between the main character, Miles, and a girl played by Becky G that I could not buy at all. The male lead's big problem is that his acting is bad; he barely shows any real emotion or charisma in his performance throughout the entire runtime. The female lead suffers from simply having no distinct personality aside from being a graffiti artist. At the very least with Miles, he at least has some memorable traits such as knowing how to repair machinery. But the girl suffers from having no character. Don't get me wrong her acting isn't bad too, I thought Becky G tried with this role. As such, I found it impossible to buy that the characters were in love; they don't share any real chemistry; it's just a pointless sideplot that feels forced.

My biggest issue with it, however is that by the end, I realized that this, intentional or not, is nothing but a complete rehash of The Iron Giant. It stars a kid who befriends a machine. Seeing that it may be dangerous, the government tries to intervene. The boy meets somebody who is willing to help him protect his robotic friend. To me, this sounds exactly like the plot of The Iron Giant, except that movie has charm, humor, fun characters and even some substantial political commentary on prejudice. This movie even rips off the ending to Iron Giant beat-by-beat, which was the biggest giveaway to me.

A-X-L may be enjoyable for kids, but the fact that it has an uncanny resemblance to a far superior animated movie really bothered me.

3/10

A-X-L fmovies. There is nothing inherently wrong with AXL, just that it is not very good. The actors are all right, the story predictable, the filming somewhat laborious, the music over-dramatic. It tries hard to be film of substance, but the storyline is too weak. Probably much better suited for 10-year-olds than the teens it seems to be aiming at.

Admittedly this is not an Oscar winner of any kind. However, I took my 8 year to see it and she loved it. I thought the story and acting was decent and the special effects good. Mostly I really enjoyed watching a non Disney animated film with my child that was free from bad language and constant references to sex. If you have kids go see this film - we thought it was a winner.

A derivative take on the old boy & his toy fable given a 21th century facelift. A robotic dog is being developed by a clandestine branch of the military as an insurgency weapon when one of them is lost in the desert in California. Enter our hero, a scrappy, on the rise motorbike racer who encounters the lost piece of combat hardware when a prank by a smarmy, rich Motocross competitor strands him away from home. Seeing a kindred spirit in the bionic canine, they connect w/each other giving the scientists who created it (who are monitoring their relationship via a tracking device) a chance to see their product in action. This wouldn't be par for the course w/o the plucky girl, who comes from similar straits, to befriend the hunky lead or the faceless, driven military types who engage all concerned in order to get their expensive piece of property back. No cliche is overlooked in this tired tale (which came out on the heels of another male wish fulfillment fantasy named Kin (that was the one w/a kid & a laser gun)) that brings nothing new to the table unless you're sitting at home checking off each & every story beat w/the maniacal glee of one who gets off on this type of dreck. Stick w/E.T. or even Explorers to get your fix for this sort of thing & avoid this as if it were a proverbial black cat in a dark alley.