Director: Jack Peter Mundy
Writer: Sam Gurney (Screenplay)
Starring: Danielle Scott, Stephanie Lodge, Andrew Rolfe, Jamie Robertson, Tom Taplin, Zoe Purdy, Ben Reid
Plot: In the near future, life-like androids with artificial intelligence have been created to help people with menial household tasks. The prototype, One, created by Roger Marshall and tested by his family, proves to be popular but flawed. Roger has been working on a new model, Two, whose improved features show promise of its super-human abilities. As tensions rise between Roger and wife Shelley, the androids malfunction and the lives of the whole family are soon in danger of Two’s sinister plans.
Tagline – An automated help machine has been corrupted in a family home.
Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Prototype starts when Roger Marshall (Robertson) brings one of the first prototype androids One (Robinson) into his family home, where he controls his wife Shelley (Scott) and children Michael (Taplin) and Andy have a different level of relationship with One.
When Roger brings home a second android, Two (Purdy) it is designed in a different way, a way that only listens to Roger and shows a much more dangerous side around the home.
Thoughts on Prototype
Characters & Performances – Roger is the abusive father, who controls his wife, expects his son to have the best in his life and helps design the androids to help around the home, wanting them to be his personal servants. Shelley is the mother and wife that isn’t allowed to leave the home, doesn’t have anyone around in her life to help her or support her, living the nightmare, while trying to stay strong for the children. One is the first android welcomed into the family, it operates in a friendly manner listening to everyone in the household, following the basic laws of robotics. Two is the newer model, instructed to only follow Roger’s instructions, created to do his controlling when he isn’t around, filled with the evil natures programmed into it. The performances are strong in this film, with the emotionless ones behind the androids being the stand outs.
Story – The story here will follow a family with a controlling father who brings in androids into his home to make life easier, only for his attempts to have on in his model of controlling nature over the family, only for the android to turn deadly. This is an interesting story that will bring to life the idea that androids will be bought into homes to help out, but the dangers will always be around the intelligence levels could give them free will to go against humans. The story will end up playing out well, giving the family a chance to come together to overcome the problems they are facing in life, to bring them closer than before, while giving the warning about bringing artificial intelligence into your home.
Themes – Prototype is a sci-fi movie that will examine the idea of having androids in the home to help make life easier, using practical effects to create the android looks, which will have an uncomfortable look, as it is one of the first model created, being about the technical side over the visual look of the androids. The film mostly stays within one home showing how trapped someone can become by someone.
Final Thoughts – Prototype is an interesting look at the first androids in a home, going wrong.