A.X.L.

A.X.L.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Oliver Daly
Produced by
Screenplay by Oliver Daly
Based on Miles
by Oliver Daly
Starring
Music by Ian Hultquist
Cinematography Tim Orr
Edited by Jeff McEvoy
Production
company
Distributed by Global Road Entertainment
Release date
  • August 24, 2018 (2018-08-24)
Running time
 98 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10 million[1]
Box office $7.8 million[2]

A.X.L. is a 2018 American science fiction adventure film written and directed by Oliver Daly, and starring Alex Neustaedter, Becky G, Alex MacNicoll, Dominic Rains, and Thomas Jane. It tells the story of a teenage boy who encounters a robotic dog created from cutting edge military technology. It was released in the United States on August 24, 2018, by Global Road Entertainment, and received generally unfavorable reviews from critics.

Plot

A-X-L is a top-secret, robotic dog created by the military to help protect tomorrow’s soldiers. Code named by the scientists who created him, A-X-L (Attack, Exploration, Logistics) embodies the most advanced next-generation artificial intelligence. After an experiment gone wrong, A-X-L is discovered hiding alone and damaged in the desert by a kind-hearted outsider named Miles Hill who finds a way to connect with him after activating his owner-pairing technology. Helping Miles gain the confidence he's been lacking, A-X-L will go to any length to protect his new companion, including facing off against the scientists who created him and who will do anything to get him back. Knowing what is at stake if A-X-L is captured, Miles teams up with a smart, resourceful ally named Sara Reyes to protect his new best friend.

Miles and Sara go back to Miles' home, and tell his father, Chuck, about A-X-L, but Chuck tells them to return A-X-L to its owners. At the same time, Sam returns with his crew and burns A-X-L with his flamethrower. Sara records a video on her camera phone and Miles and Sara both take off to save A-X-L, but are too late. However, A-X-L gives them a location to go to repair him. Meanwhile, a man sent by Andric shows up at the house and demands that Chuck reveal the location of the devices that control A-X-L. Chuck, growing suspicious, manages to trick the man, and demands him to answer his questions. The Agent reveals he is looking for A-X-L.

Miles and Sara take A-X-L to a garage for repairs and it automatically repairs itself for 2.5 hours. However, Andric gets a log on its location and sends his team to retrieve it. The Agents arrive and try to retrieve A-X-L while it's still repairing. When it comes online, it remembers its last memories of Sam burning him with a flamethrower. A-X-L runs out to go and kill Sam, with Miles and Sara rushing to stop it. Sam and his friends are throwing a party when A-X-L arrives to get revenge. Sam tries again to burn him with a flamethrower until the fuel runs out, but Miles and Sara arrive and convince A-X-L not to kill Sam. Drones arrive and disable A-X-L; Miles and Sara are captured and brought to Andric and he tries to override Miles' control of A-X-L, but fails.

When Miles refuses to tell him where the remote is, Andric programs A-X-L attack to Sara, if he doesn't tell him where the remote is. Sara is able to convinces A-X-L not to attack her by showing the feather. Andric tries to escape when Captain Webber shows up, but he is arrested and realizes that Berman contacted Webber and reported him. Knowing they are surrounded and they still want A-X-L, Sara allows herself to be captured, while Miles and A-X-L escape, but they are pursued by a helicopter. They ride up a mountain until they fall, knowing Miles can't keep him, he orders A-X-L to run. A-X-L obeys and then self-destructs.

6 weeks later, Andric is arrested for violating national security and endangering the lives of civilians; he is visited by Webber who informs him that A-X-L's code has resurfaced, and wants to know what it is doing. Sara and Miles have gone off to college via the scholarships provided by the military – to buy their silence and to keep an eye on them. Meanwhile, Sara and Miles spend the day at the beach hanging out, studying, and playing with their new puppy, when Sara gives him an envelope. Miles opens it and puts out a short note from his dad. Miles reads it then flips the envelope upside down and the remote to A-X-L falls out into his hand. Miles asks Sara if he should try and activate it. The pairing device does and the A.X.L. OS is uploading itself back on their phones. They realize that A-X-L is alive, survived somehow, and might be returning to them.

Cast

Production

A-X-L is based on the proof-of-concept short film Miles by writer/director Oliver Daly. The short film was funded via Kickstarter campaign that began in 2014, with 190 backers. According to the campaign, the short film is a "movie about blurring the boundaries between humanity and technology, set in the off-roading world of Central California."[3]

Production began in 2015 when writer/director Oliver Daly began reworking his short film Miles into a feature length film. David S. Goyer joined the project as producer through his Phantom Four banner alongside Kevin Turen.[4] Lakeshore Entertainment joined Phantom Four to produce the film, which began principal photography in 2016.[5] Global Road Entertainment (formerly Open Road) joined Lakeshore Entertainment to co-produce and co-finance the project.[5][6]

In August 2016, pop star Becky G announced that she would be joining the cast as "Sara".[7] Actor Alex MacNicoll (Transparent) was cast in the film in October of 2016, joining Alex Neustaedter.[8]

The film was released despite its financing and production company Global Road Entertainment was taken over by its lenders.[9]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, A.X.L. was released on August 24, 2018 alongside The Happytime Murders, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 1,710 theaters in its opening weekend.[10] It ended up debuting to $2.9 million, finishing ninth at the box office.[1] The film made a total of $7.7 million worldwide.[2]

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 22% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 3.4/10.[11] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 29 out of 100, based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 59% overall positive score.[1]

Katie Rife of The A.V. Club described the film as "utterly forgettable", not believing that anyone would "want to watch [the] utterly generic, sloppily conceived film badly enough to see it in theaters".[13]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
2018 People's Choice Awards Favorite Family Movie A.X.L. Pending [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 26, 2018). "'Why 'Happytime Murders' Reps A Solo Career B.O. Low For Melissa McCarthy In A 'Crazy Rich' Weekend – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "A.X.L. (2018)". The Numbers. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  3. ↑ Daly, Oliver (February 19, 2014). "MILES". Kickstarter. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 4, 2015). "David Goyer Tapped To Produce Feature Version Of Oliver Daly Short 'Miles'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  5. 1 2 Jaafar, Ali (November 3, 2015). "Lakeshore Entertainment Partnering With David S. Goyer's Phantom Four To Produce Oliver Daly's 'Miles'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  6. ↑ Galuppo, Mia (April 28, 2016). "Motocross Film 'Miles' Lands U.S. Home With Open Road". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  7. ↑ Becky G [@iambeckyg] (August 30, 2016). "Excited to finally share that I'll be playing 'Sara' in the @MilesMovie" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2018 – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (October 25, 2016). "'Transparent's Alex MacNicoll Joins Oliver Daly's Pic 'Miles'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  9. ↑ Lang, Brent (August 21, 2018). "Global Road in Crisis: Banks Take Control of Studio". Variety. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  10. ↑ Faughnder, Ryan (August 22, 2018). "Filthy puppet movie 'Happytime Murders' to battle 'Crazy Rich Asians' at the box poffice". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2018. /
  11. ↑ "A.X.L. (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  12. ↑ "A.X.L. Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ Rife, Katie (August 24, 2018). "A boy and his death machine go on generic adventures in the utterly forgettable A.X.L.". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  14. ↑ "44th People's Choice Awards Nominees".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.