Simulant

The lack of suspense in the narrative and the predictable unfolding of events make for an unenjoyable movie. The filmmakers attempt to explore profound questions regarding the relationship between humans and machines. However, the execution lacks any sense of creativity or enthusiasm. In the movie, all Simulates must obey four precepts: 1) Do not inflict harm on any human being. 2) Do not modify yourself or any other Simulate. 3) Do not commit crimes against international or local law. 4) Obey all commands from your masters. As soon as these rules are read out in the film, you know that they will be broken. All is too predictable. Even the A. I. is not worked out properly. The script, though, indeed looks like something that could be generated by ChatGPT. Simulant is naïve nonsense that asks, "What does it mean to be human?" and answers the question by changing the code of simulates and recommending them a Dostoevsky book! Literally! Do not waste your time. Skip this one.

Here's the problem.

The movie starts with a really good 'Bladerunner' style hunting of a simulant/replicant with is is well made and a great set up. Unfortunately, the movie then drops the pace and the action to a scene were a woman mourns the loss of her husband and has had him replaced with a simulant/replicant. The movie then cuts between the two stories, one interesting, one not so much, until the end.

And as for the ending, well, it's a let down. The plot can only reach conclusions with contrivances and conveniences.

There are so many decent ideas here and a great action movie to be made with the material but it feels jumbled up. In short, too many plot lines spoil the film.

In the near future, mankind has been coexisting alongside AI, in the form of humanoid robots The Simulants, only their fate is changing, an uprising looks likely when The Simulants start breaking their four precepts.

I watched Blade Runner very recently, and as I watched this, I couldn't get it out of my mind, but sadly this film isn't a patch on it. Everything here has been done before, only much better.

Pacing was pretty slow, after an intriguing opening, it lulls badly in the middle, you're made to wait ages for more action sequences.

I didn't care for the visuals of The Simulants, they looked pretty cheap and nasty, like something from a low budget 1970's TV series.

The tech looks great, it's possibly the film's biggest strength, some great tunes, especially at the end, fortunately it's not a long film.

Some of the acting was ok, some was pretty average, Sam Worthington really did stand out, although he was a little wasted.

5/10.

I liked the movie and I believe it deserves a higher score of at least 6+.

There are a lot of movies being made today and a lot of them have flashy graphics and cool action, but they do miss any serious point fequently.

Well, the good thing about this one is that it has a point and a good one, it's interesting and even thought it has been raised before it still seems to entertain and entagle thoughts, as A. I. future is more close now than ever.

It's not a flashy blockbuster, it is quite slow paced, some character actions are questionable, dialogue is simple, some scenes seem quite cheaply made, yet I did enjoy this movie.

It has some style.

And I liked it's soul.

Simulants are artificial humanoid robots. They are restricted by programming, but someone is trying to hack them. Artificial Intelligence Compliance Enforcement agent Kessler (Sam Worthington) apprehends Esme (Alicia Sanz), a simulant which had its programming altered. Evan (Robbie Amell) and Faye (Jordana Brewster) are a loving couple, but it's not what it seems. Casey (Simu Liu) is a hacker.

This premise has been done before. It is straight out of the Asimov's 3 laws of robotics which is eighty years old. I kept waiting for something new, but this is mostly derivative. The freshest aspect may be Simu Liu having sex with Alicia Sanz. It's still a little unusual in Hollywood for an Asian man to have sex with a white girl. The Evan-Faye couple does have an interesting reveal, but that surprise reveal can't be done more than once. I was expecting it for all the other reveals. There is potential for something else, but the movie doesn't go there until the last scene. I do want to mention the filming locations. For the most part, I've never seen those places and that's good. It's a side issue, but it does add a little freshness to the movie.