Bicentennial Man (1999)

pandarating: 9/10

genre: Drama Family Sci-fi

waddabout: Set in a futuristic 2005 this movie is about Andrew the android whose lifelong wish is to become more human. His moving journey starts from his simple beginnings as an household robot/appliance to becoming a great and influential human. In a way similar in scope and layout to Forrest Gump, this movie was critically panned on release by critics expecting a ha-ha comedy by robin willaims.

#panda actually rates this movie 10/10 as it is a personal favourite! it is on consensus with monkey that it is given a 9/10

pandarespect to: Robin Willaims for giving one of his careers best performances till date. He plays the android covered in metal/silicon skin perfectly. The use of props and animatronics might be obvious to the trained eye, but willaims is in costume for a lot of the film.

The special effects and other CGI things are very decently done and hasn’t dated one bit since initial release. The script manages to navigate the potentially difficult waters of a story which spans (as the title suggests) 200 years.

trivia note: The movie was a critical and commercial flop in the year 1999 with its late December release, it was marketed a comedy film as can be evidenced by its trailers, it has eventually found its audience and now regarded as one of Asimov’s best translation to screen which follows his spirit of robotics and theology.The story is based on Asimov’s famous novella “the Bicentennial man” which was later turned into a novel by Asimov and Robert Silverberg, called “the positronic man”.
 
watch the trailer: the trailer is actually misleading as it projects the film as a comedy film.