• Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Crooked Marquee
  • Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Home
Reviews

REVIEW: A.X.L. Meets Basic Boy-and-Robot-Dog Movie Requirements

Aug 24th, 2018 Eric D. Snider
REVIEW: A.X.L. Meets Basic Boy-and-Robot-Dog Movie Requirements

A.X.L., a wholesome boy-and-his-dog adventure and an inoffensive PG trifle, is patterned after The Iron Giant — a good role model for any movie to emulate, though obviously a hard one to measure up to. It also has shades of Short Circuit, E.T., and the like, being the story of an underdog teenage motocrosser named Miles (Alex Neustaedter) who finds and befriends a robotic war-dog that escaped from the military contractors who built it.

Named A.X.L. (Attack Exploration Logistics), the Great Dane-sized cyber-beast has the loyalty and playfulness of a real dog mixed with the lethal capabilities of a tank, with some Transformer qualities thrown in for good measure. (We won’t see the Transformers prequel Bumblebee till Christmas, but I feel like A.X.L. is basically it.) It has fully articulated ears, makes growling sounds, even “sniffs” people, all while using its internal hardware to scan nearby electronic devices, hack phones, and so forth. As pets go, it’s the whole package.

A.X.L. imprints on Miles and his quasi-girlfriend, Sara (Becky G), thereafter protecting them from Sam (Alex MacNicoll), the rich brat who is Miles’ racing and romantic rival. Back at the high-tech lab where A.X.L. was created, its inventor (Dominic Rains) argues with an underling (Lou Taylor Pucci) about whether to retrieve it or wait and see how it does in its first interactions with humans (there’s a chance it will just kill them). Miles’ supportive father (Thomas Jane) is mostly kept out of the loop, involved only enough to justify hiring a “name” actor to play him. (Sam’s jerk dad is played by Ted McGinley.)

New writer-director Oliver Daly, expanding on his 2015 short, keeps things simple, targeting young viewers — and, to a lesser extent, dog lovers — who want a low-impact fantasy. It doesn’t withstand scientific scrutiny, and the dialogue is purely functional, but the movie meets the basic narrative requirements.

Grade: B-

1 hr., 38 min.; rated PG for sci-fi action/peril, suggestive material, thematic elements and some language

Join our mailing list! Follow us on Twitter! Write for us!
Facebook Twitter Google+
Eric D. Snider

Eric D. Snider

Eric D. Snider has been a film critic since 1999, first for newspapers (when those were a thing) and then for the internet. He was born and raised in Southern California, lived in Utah in his 20s, then Portland, now Utah again. He is glad to meet you, probably.

Trending
May 25th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

From Cause Célèbre to Cult Favorite: Possession at 40

Jul 15th 11:00 AM
Reviews

Review: Pig

Jul 16th 11:00 AM
Looking Back

Classic Corner: Meet John Doe

Jul 30th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

Classic Corner: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Aug 4th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

A Celebration of the Arthouse Cannon

Aug 5th 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: John and the Hole

Aug 13th 4:15 PM
Looking Back

Why Baghead Jason Voorhees Is the Best Jason Voorhees

Sep 23rd 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: The Starling

Oct 21st 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: The French Dispatch

Oct 28th 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: The Souvenir: Part II

blank
cmpopcorn_white3.svg
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Writers Guidelines
  • Members
    • Login
    • SignUp
    • Forums
telephone icon [email protected]
envelope icon [email protected]
© 2014-2022 Crooked™ Publishing
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
blankblank
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}