Shockwave |
  • USA • 2006 • 94m •   • Directed by: Jim Wynorski. • Starring: Joe Lando, Lisa LoCicero, Josh Coxx, Blake Gibbons, Hudson Leick, Michael Dorn, Bill Mumy, Alexandra Paul, Robert Picardo, George Takei, Tim Thomerson, Roark Critchlow, Jay Richardson. • Music by: Chuck Cirino.     When a plane carrying a pair of top secret military robots crashes on a deserted Pacific island, a team of Navy seals must find them and turn them off as soon as possible for the longer they are activated, the smarter they become.
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Also known under the title Shockwave this was co-written & directed by Jim Wynorski under his regular Jay Andrews pseudonym I am shocked to report that I didn't actually hate this, I usually hate Jim Wynorski films & consider him along with Jesus 'I have no talent' Franco as consistently the worst director's out there who have huge filmographies but seem to produce virtually nothing but crap with one or two exceptions & A. I. Assault is definitely one of Wynorski's highlights but even then I can't say it's particularly good, it's just that it's not as bad as Wynorski's usual output. Originally airing on the Sci-Fi Channel maybe the version titled Shockwave has some extra gore in it, A. I. Assault feels a lot like many of those Sci-Fi Channel creature features where a random group of people including walking clichés like military soldiers, thieves & scientist's end up stuck fighting some sort of menace. Usually it's a giant Snake or Komodo or animal but here it's a couple of killer robots that have gone haywire & I actually thought it was watchable in a bad sort of way, sure it's not deep or meaningful or original but there's a certain amount of dumb fun to be had if you know what your getting into. The usual bad plotting, stupid dialogue, idiot character's who just stand there as killer robots attack are here & I simply don't understand why the team only took one of those lasers which is the only thing that can penetrate the robots armour to the island with them, why not give each soldier one of his own? It just doesn't make any sense.
There's a little bit of gore, there's a few decapitations & someone is ripped apart although generally speaking A. I. Assault isn't a gory film. Surprisingly the CGI computer effects are alright, sure they ain't brilliant & there are one or two really bad shots but overall I was surprised the CGI was bearable & considering the budget even somewhat impressive at times. The robots themselves look like the tripods from War of the Worlds & even have lasers which disintegrate it's victims, unsurprisingly A. I. Assault was made & released less than a year after Spielberg's remake of War of the World (2005).
The production values are cheap looking although the locations look quite nice. The acting is mixed but everyone seems to have fun with this, there's a really good & experienced cast here actually including Joe Lando (appeared in almost every episode of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (1993 - 1998), Bill Mumy (Will Robinson from Lost in Space (1965 - 1968), Lisa LoCicero (200 odd episodes of General Hospital (2008 - 2009), Star Trek actor's George Takei, Micheal Dorn & Robert Picardo who have hundreds of episodes between them & even ex Baywatch (1992 - 1997) babe Alexandra Paul while respected actor Tim Thomerson turns up as well.
A. I. Assault was better than i expected & while it's not brilliant or even particularly good I didn't hate it & had a certain amount of fun watching it & there's a terrific cast to look out for too. You could do worse but then again you could do a lot better.
Review by poolandrews from the Internet Movie Database.
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