STORYLINE:  A robot girl designed to prevent loneliness tries to save a heartbroken family of humans.   (IMDb)

  Robin Williams, portrayed a robot wanting to become more human in Bicentennial Man (1999).  Wall E (2008) traveled to outer space to change the fate of mankind.  In Robot & Frank (2012), a jewel thief teaches his artificial intelligent companion the art of the con.  That one is a lot of fun. Klara and the Sun, is the latest motion picture about artificial intelligence, to be released on the big screen.

  Movies about robots have two clear types. The first is the disastrous, war torn features, such as The Terminator franchise. The second is the friendly, helpful robot features like The Irom Giant (1999).  Klara and the Sun falls under the second umbrella.

Klara and the Sun is a story of friendship.  Two individuals, find one another, and become part of each others lives. The circumstances of their meeting are not the norm, because one of the individuals is a robot, created to be a friend.

  The film is emotionally manipulative, and not in the way I normally complain about. It’s the story that’s the problem here.  It grabs, uncomfortably, at the heart strings, and never let’s go.  It’s one thing after another, designed to manipulate the viewer into an artificial emotion, and not allowing this to occur naturally.  The movie appears to be continually going for one emotion instead of going for a variety.

My lack of enjoyment in Klara and the Sun disappoints me.  I a, a fan of director Taika Waititi.  Setting aside his work in the MCU, because I have grown tired of superhero flicks, I have  routinely enjoyed films of his.  What We Do in the Shadows (2014), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), and JoJo Rabbit (2022) are all creative movies, I have throughly enjoyed. Klara and the Sun let me down.

  To recap, Klara and the Sun disappointed me because I found it to have an emotional manipulative story.  It’s from a director whose work I normally enjoy.

Until next time, I will see you at the movies!