October 7, 2023 – In this big science fiction action movie, robots are sentient. They think, feel and act just like humans. In fact, there is evidence in the movie that some animals, at least primates, have been enhanced with human-like intelligence as well. The setting of this film, on future earth, seems quite alien.

An atomic bomb, exploded in Los Angeles is the historical event in this movie which ignites a war between countries which oppose sentient robots and those who accept them. The robot-hating U.S. blames sentient robots for the explosion. Those in robot-loving New Asia say it was human error which caused the explosion.

Joshua Taylor (played by John David Washington of “Tenet” is a human undercover operative who is selected to infiltrate New Asia. His mission is to kill a mysterious robot designer, known as “Nirmata.” Nirmata has created a weapon which can destroy Nomad, a powerful space station which is the main weapon used by the U.S. and its Western allies in the war against New Asia.

Taylor, who has an artificial leg and arm, is chosen by the mission because of his past experience in the area where Nirmata's weapon is thought to be. Taylor has an added incentive for the mission. He wants to rescue his wife, Maya Fey-Taylor (played by Gemma Chan of “Eternals”) who is thought to be in the same area as Nirmata and the weapon.

Taylor's mission is complicated, but it gets even more complicated when he learns the truth about Nirmata, Maya Fey-Taylor and the weapon, as well as other some other troubling facts he was not aware off. His divided loyalties are further tested by the relentless close pursuit of his boss, Colonel Howell (Allison Janney of “Bombshell”) and other soldiers determined to eliminate Nirmata and the weapon, without worrying at all about collateral damage.

A lot of science fiction films about the future make future earth look about the same as it is now, perhaps because of the expense of making it look a lot different. This movie makes future earth look a lot different. It looks even more expensive than its estimated budget of $80 million.

Exotic landscapes are one thing, but having so many different kinds of robots and other futuristic machines also makes it look different. In addition to normal looking human beings, you have people with high-tech artificial limbs, you have full-fledged robots, and robot “simulants” who look like people, except for round, gear-like see-through contraptions towards the back of their heads. These “gear head” contraptions don't look practical or useful, but they sure do let you know who is human and who is a simulant.

This movie is full of eye candy, action and solid acting performances. While the plot, and the setting, are complicated, the strong emotional center of the film keeps everything else in a manageable perspective. This film rates a B.

On a philosophical note, some so-called antireductionists absolutely deny the possibility of the kind of artificially-created sentience depicted in this movie. The reason for this belief is that the workings of the human brain are very complex. Because of this complexity, the antireductionists believe the mind must rely on some kind quasi-supernatural influence, whether you want to call it god, or emergence due to quantum mechanics. I, and probably other reductionists, think it is possible for artificial sentience to emerge in the future.

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