REVIEW: Resistance is a fantastic science fiction film about a brutal war against robots

The same director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Gareth Edwards, creates a dystopian and conflicting world in his new cinema venture, Resistance (2023) - The Creator, in the original title. He imagines a world in which men and machines have a very deep and philosophical relationship, as well as a warlike one. 

The new title surprises and leaves the director's mark on the big screen. It will be difficult to let this work of science fiction go unnoticed, as it does not require prior knowledge and deals with imagery that is very tangible for contemporary times, making it interesting for all audiences.

See below what the showmetech Did you like the film, which is scheduled to premiere on September 28th, only in theaters?

Breathtaking narrative

On a futuristic planet Earth, machines evolved and gained a humanoid shape, in addition to very advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology from scientists in the field. They, in the form of humanoid robots, began to replace and support in the most diverse professions, including medicine. Furthermore, little by little they gained synthetic skin and eyes, perfectly imitating human beings and being known as simulants. 

Everything was going well and robotics was advancing to include real family members in our homes. Until... a flaw in US artificial intelligence causes an atomic bomb to be detonated in Los Angeles (!), on the orders of a single flawed robot, killing thousands of people. 

Since the event, the USA has decided to ban robots in the West, still imagining themselves in a future in which they would be great and influential on this side of international geopolitics. However, the countries of the East do not adopt such a stance and continue to coexist with their metal partners, leading American politicians to enter into a brutal war that will haunt these territories, imposing their will. 

The premise of Resistance It's simple and nothing original in its script, but it does the basics and instigates until the end, with very well constructed plots. A great film to watch in a relaxed way. 

(Super) special effects

Resistance is a show apart in terms of special effects. Gunshots, lots of explosions, meticulously digitally designed robots, futuristic aircraft, among other elements dominate the scenes. The work seems to rely so much on this resource, so currently developed and so surprising, that it even inflates it, in an exaggerated way, and even in scenes where it is not so necessary, even though there are few of them.

Despite the exaggeration of CGIs, it is possible to leave each scene of Resistance completely convinced. It is very satisfying how each robot and its particularities are represented in the universe that the director creates. The dystopian future imagined there gains wings and provides a lot of visual delight thanks to these technologies, which reach the heights of today.

Not only is the visual pleasure of the work very impressive, but the sound effects and soundtrack (which features classics such as Fly Me to the Moon e Moonlight, as well as one written by Radiohead) help to immerse viewers in this unique place that only science fiction works can create. These are extremely positive points of the film and are worth going to the cinema just by themselves.

A nameless war

In Resistance, a deep and poetic Asimovian narrative takes shape in a world full of robots, who have consciousness and feelings and try to live with humans in the best possible way in the midst of a cruel war that aims to annihilate them at all costs. The enormous military force of the West (only the USA, as the imagination of the work revolves around a disaster in one of its main cities) against rural villages and temples in several eastern territories, suggesting the region of present-day Indonesia and highlighting an inequality in military power.

Several dystopian scenarios are imagined in this world punished by a gigantic war machine, very inspired by Blade Runner: The Android Hunter (1982)including machines and oppressive cities. The beauty of these visuals, combined with great art direction, gives the entire film a charm and unique look.

Not only the whole futuristic issue of robots gaining consciousness and a lot of verisimilitude to human beings, but even a religious aspect that they come to express in society. Although little explored, it has a strong relationship with the powerful “weapon” created by this civilization as a response to the war brought by the USA. The human characteristics in robots are very well placed in specific scenes, validating the idea that they are, indeed, kind beings who coexist well with humans. From the beginning.

However, due to very frequent action scenes, the debate does not go into depth about this, making little reference to more classic works of the genre and weakening its poetic side. With this reality, there is a clear waste in not naming enemies and depersonifying – or even anonymizing – US politicians, who have always followed a grotesque, cruel and bloodthirsty geopolitics of imperialism, combined with militarism.

Furthermore, there is a great feeling of hopelessness, or very little hope, for the future. The work carries a very sad and suffocating atmosphere throughout. Not that this is bad, of course, its final message is very beautiful.

But what is the criticism? At times, Edwards seems to lose track of the main thread he is trying to create and deflates such an interesting critique that he tries to build into Resistance. Perhaps a longer film or an extended version would give chances for an adjustment at this point, but often the main focus seems to reside in the protagonists' romance and the audiovisual spectacle rather than in the presence of a critical sense, even with a great reflective power.

Humans, robots and actors/actresses

Last but not least, an excellent cast was selected for the film. Especially the protagonists, Joshua (John David Washington), Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) and Colonel Howell (Allison Janney), deliver a lot in their performance and reinforce all the imagery created for the work. It is in heavy and oppressive environments that the charisma of these people is found, corroborating the entire feeling of the film.

Comic reliefs are inserted into some scenes very precisely, at the right times, and all the actors and actresses help to make viewers laugh, especially in the first half of the film. Supporting actors participate in an incisive way as well and gain the greatest sympathy from the public, no matter how little screen time they have. Their charisma and all the suffocating action of the warlike situation in the story make them bring out the best in acting on the big screen.

Conclusion

Although the film leaves something to be desired in terms of the issues raised before, which could still be an effect of Marvel in theaters (for better or worse), Resistance brings up very interesting questions that can be imagined in a unique way in a dystopian future in which there is an authentic love-hate relationship between humans and robots (or simulants). This is, after all, a very popular issue and leads us to think about what the future of the planet will be like with the unstoppable advancement of AI as we know it today.

The director, Gareth Edwards, also leaves his special touch in every scene and manages to express his ideas well, without leaving many points open at the end and knowing how to extract the best from each actor and actress present in the scene. Even though he is aware that it will not be his state of the art, the narrative and imaginary constructed by him generate a debate regarding the coexistence between humans and machines that is very elegant and interesting.

For those who like this type of film or the genre itself (science fiction), it is almost mandatory to go to the theaters to check it out and draw your own conclusions. And even for those who want and hope to see something more casual, Resistência delivers – a lot – like one of those broadcast on a Sunday afternoon on open TV. More than recommended to everyone!

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Sources: IMDb, Regency

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (28 / 09 / 23)