Mother/Android is yet another hastily put together post apocalyptic sci-fi film by Netflix. I wonder how many times are we going to see some or the other rehashed version of The Terminator. As if the Terminator itself has not undergone various reboots, that have actually killed the whole franchise.
Mother/Android is just another attempt at recreating that terminator magic but it simply falls flat.
A repeated plot
The movie begins in a washroom where our lead protagonist has just tested positive for pregnancy. The filmmakers would have done a lot of good for us viewers, if they would have just flushed the script of this movie into the same washroom then and there itself.
Unfortunately, the movie moves forward and we see a world where human like Androids are being used as househelps. Our protagonist Chloe Grace Moretz and her boyfriend Sam (Algee Smith) are at a party where all of a sudden, The Skynet decides to take over.
After a few rounds of firing and panic, the scene cuts to our lead pair sleeping in a tent, somewhere in the middle of a forest. From this point forwards it becomes a very lethargic journey as we get to learn that the Androids have taken over the world and that the humans are fighting them. The scenes are very slow, dialogues are highly monotonous and the story moves at a placid rate.
After yawning through half the movie, we finally see some action as Androids chase the couple, throughout the forest. If one were to watch the movie from midway, they will not be able to tell, whether the ones chasing our lead characters are Android, or zombies from World war Z.
The movie again slowed down after that chase sequence and although the writers did try to put in a twist towards the end, that buildup lasts only 5 minutes. The twist is also not very effective in creating much interest to the story and feels like a wasted opportunity.
A waste of time
To be completely honest this movie feels like a low budget reboot of of Sarah Connor chronicles. There is not much scope for any of the actor to showcase any exemplary performance. The writer/director Mattson Tomlin was not even sure how he wanted to end the movie, and the last couple of scenes actually look more like last minute additions.
After completely watching this movie and wasting my precious time, I only had one question in my mind.
“Really skynet? If after so many attempts, you still don’t know how to kill Jon Connor, maybe you need a software update.”
Fun Fact : Writer/Director Mattson Tomlin is rumoured to be writing and producing a Terminator TV series. Maybe this movie was him testing the waters. Sincerely advised not to swim.
Thinking of watching The Wasteland on netflix. How about you read this review first.
Thanks for saving our time too