Outside the Wire & Monsters of Man

2021, Mikael Håfström (1408) -- Netflix
2020, Mark Toia (debut) -- download

I can think back far as Robocop, where pop culture went beyond Robots Are Taking Your Jobs (instead of immigrants) and presented the question -- why not replace military & policing with machines? Both areas are dangerous, and both would benefit from a system that takes the emotional element out of it, from one that reacts much much quicker than the human mind & body can. But the fearful always say that without the human element, so many things could go wrong, so many last minutes decisions to NOT do something can only be done by a human. Only humans make moral decisions. Not that we do a good job of it, looking back at 2020.

In the world of pop culture icons, the combat robot has moved on from the plastic & wires that I know more from the Will Smith's I, Robot. We now are more familiar with big blocks of metal & plastic connected by wires and servos, ala Neill Blomkamp (Elysium & Chappie). These robots, reminiscent of actual robots from Boston Dynamics, are both clunky and smooth moving, as only CGI depicted, AI controlled things can be. Gosh, I love the look.

Outside the Wire, the new Netflix scifi'er with Anthony Mackie, is set in a war in Eastern Europe. Much like in Spectral, America has stuck its nose into a war in Ukraine. Along with the ground troops they have tossed their robotic infantry and also one very special soldier -- Captain Leo.

**SPOILERS** Warning because the original trailers did a decent job of hiding this fact.

Leo (Anthony Mackie, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) is an AI in a human shell. Unlike the robotic troops, he has a certain amount of autonomy. He is still constrained by some restrictions, but for the most part he is a solo operator. Until he is saddled with Harp (Damson Idris, Snowfall), a drone pilot who chose tactical success over saving lives, which technically saved even more lives. But his callous disregard for the soldiers, given Harp was operating the drone safely from the US, earns him a transfer to the front. Harp and Leo are put together, one to learn some hands-on experience, and the other to have a human handler. But Leo has other plans in mind, beyond the missions he is assigned.

This is a solid actioner, with good effects and lots of tense, powerful moments. But the scifi, the philosophy of AI's and the final act just fall flat. Its like how my brain writes stories -- lots of good scenes, but cohesive plot? Nah... 

For one, the whole idea of a autonomous AI that is indistinguishable from a real human being fast-tracked into being a soldier? I am sure the technology would have been floating around a LOT longer than this one example. And for that matter, if such an AI existed, skip the humanoid body and just make THEM the drone pilots. But sure, lots of cool CGI body images and Anthony Mackie. 

And when we finally get the crux of the movie, the climax explaining why Leo is doing what he is doing, they just fall on the same old tired trope of AI's only having one way to save humanity -- by destroying it. If I was an AI programmer, I would make Not Doing That an integral part of the programming, not an easily removable component that someone with a pen knife can be tricked into removing. I would just like to see one AI related movie where the AI establishes mega-empathy, where it begins exhibiting an extreme desire to PROTECT all humanity, learning to manipulate all the fallible humans so it can protect them, even from themselves -- without all the collateral damage. 

Meanwhile, where the combots in that movie were cool looking background NPCs, in Monsters of Man they are the primary focus. This indie flick, a little on the cheap side, I actually ended up feeling more satisfied with, given that it at least attempts to do what I just professed a desire to see.

Major (Neal McDonough, Band of Brothers) is either an ex-military officer now running a weapons company, or just someone sharing the same name as Major Lillywhite, sends a team of technicians into the jungles of Vietnam (Laos?) to participate in the testing of some combots. He is assisted by a corrupt CIA spook who is directing the test towards a drug cartel camp. Alas, one of the combots is damaged during the parachute drop into the jungle. Alas, some American medical students on a working holiday in the jungle run afoul of the tests and become its new targets.

Gray morality is the theme of the day in this movie, where the technicians didn't expect to have live enemies to fight, let alone innocent students, but have to vie between doing what they are forced to do, or taking a stand. Major wants a good test, but doesn't want the powers that will fund him to know HOW he tested the robots. And the one broken robot, which had its AI brain lobotomy device fail, begins to understand more of what it is, what it is meant to do, and question everything. At least this movie wants to explore those questions.

Sure, the flick is a little sloppy. The editing is bad enough that you see some scenes repeat. I don't mean the actual footage, I mean, they shot the scene multiple ways, but use the multiple shots in different areas, hoping we won't catch the same dialogue, the same actor reactions, the same plot point repeated. Sure, they use the same ludicrous techno babble as most of these movies, and have examples of the worst kind of design -- the component that keeps a robot from becoming sentient is as easily accessed as a Nintendo Gameboy cartridge, not safely contained in the interior of the robot; so a child cannot just pluck it out. But the CGI is tight, the acting C+ grade and the choreography and cinematography is pretty good, which is not surprising coming from a seasoned TV commercial director.

In the end, I prefer the latter movie, in that it attempts to toss the usual tropes on its head. Sure, the first is prettier, with a higher budget and familiar faces, but the latter tried something non-standard. I am not quite sure an emerging AI would quickly come to the conclusion that empathy is a better choice than disregard for life. But given the trope where an intelligence gets access to the Internet, and all its information (not knowledge), it would have plenty of examples of Good Things, maybe even more, than of the Bad Things that we know happen. And I prefer hope over futility.