Film Review: A.X.L

Genre: Action, Adventure, Family

Cert: PG

Director: Oliver Daly

Screenwriter: Oliver Daly

Starring: Thomas Jane, Becky G, Ted McGinley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Dominic Rains, Alex Neustaedter, Eric Etebari, Hassie Harrison, Dorian Kingi, Alex MacNicoll, Patricia De Leon, Niko Guardado, Jonathan Camp, Sam Upton, Stacey Arwen Raab


Running time: 1h 38min

Parents advised reading before viewing the film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity:

• Sara wears revealing outfits, including short-shorts and tops that continually expose a lot of cleavage and midriff. She's shown in a bikini top as well.
• At times, it seems as if the camera goes out of its way to focus on her physique, something that's easily the biggest concern in a movie that's clearly aimed at a young audience.
• We see other teen girls in similarly skimpy clothing that's both tight and revealing. Sam's shown stripping off his shirt a couple of times.
• Miles and Sara kiss. (Though, to the film's credit, when they end up spending a night together in the desert, the only thing that happens is Sara putting her head on his shoulder.)
• At one point, Miles insists that Sara refer to A.X.L. as a "he" rather than an "it." Sara retorts, "You checked?"

Violence & Gore:

• In the course of his high-flying motocross racing and jumping Miles gets banged and thumped around quite a lot. He suffers big crashes on several occasions.
• We see scrapes on his arms and a raw-looking abrasion on his neck. He also ends up with his arm in a cast after a failed motorcycle jump off a cliff.
• Military personnel threaten people with rifles and other weapons. Miles' dad is held at gunpoint by a paramilitary type, but Chuck then turns the table and threatens that armed intruder with a bow and arrow of his own.
• Sara and Miles struggle with a couple of armed thugs, too. A man threatens to hurt Sara with the A.X.L. if Miles doesn't do as he says.
• Sam has a predilection for destroying things with a flamethrower and he uses that device to burn a car, throw flames at a passing bike rider and incinerate A.X.L., too.
• Sam and Miles get into a brief, fist-swinging fight.
• For its part, the A.X.L. menaces a number of people with its grinding, blade-like teeth, including Miles and Sara. It's implied that the digi-doggie is more than capable of killing anyone that its programming deems to be a threat or enemy.
• And at one point, it does seem bent on something like revenge against Sam after the teen tries to destroy it with a flamethrower. (An implement, one could rightly argue, no teen guy really needs access to.)
• But the worst A.X.L. ever does is tackle and drag one person around by his ankle, and thump and rake at someone else.
• We also see a victim with what looks like claw marks on his bare chest. In actuality, though, the mechanical dog gets worse than it gives.
• The metal beast is impaled with a large metal spike, incapacitated with electric shocks, set afire and shot at.
• Several scenes throughout the film involve reckless motorcycle chases that include some big jumps.

Profanity: 

• We hear one s-word.
• In a tense moment, a young woman clearly mouths "oh my god," though we don't actually hear it.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking:

• Several parties at Sam's house (when his parents are out of town) are indulgent affairs, involving all manner of culinary excess (huge pizzas, enormous sub sandwiches, whipped cream, etc.).
• At each of these soirees, we see teens drinking from red cups as they get increasingly rowdy, though it's not completely clear what beverages are actually in those containers.
• That said, a conversation between Miles and his father the morning after one of these benders suggests that he has a hangover. (Miles complains about loud noises and his father suggests that maybe he needs to quit partying quite so hard.)
• Miles and Sara are grabbed and rendered unconscious with chloroform.

Frightening/Intense Scenes:

• There are some intense moments, not too frightening but a little en=motional in areas.

Story: A.X.L. is a top-secret, robotic dog created by the military to help protect tomorrow's soldiers. Code named by the scientists who created him, A.X.L. stands for Attack, Exploration, Logistics, and embodies the most advanced, next-generation artificial intelligence. After an experiment gone wrong, A.X.L. is discovered hiding alone in the desert by a kind-hearted outsider named Miles (Alex Neustaedter), who finds a way to connect with him after activating his owner-pairing technology. Together, the two develop a special friendship based on trust, loyalty and compassion. Helping Miles gain the confidence he's been lacking, A.X.L. will go to any length to protect his new companion, including facing off against the scientists who created him and who will do anything to get him back. Knowing what is at stake if A.X.L. is captured, Miles teams up with a smart, resourceful ally named Sara (Becky G) to protect his new best friend on a timeless, epic adventure for the whole family.

Likes: I can see why this went straight to Netflick's after hitting selected cinema in the US, as the film is short but to the point of being a great family film. Looking at the review from certain people what were they expecting, kids today have a short attention span so, to be honest, this film was great for this with great pacing, acting was ok but story-wise, not bad.

The CGI isnt cheap look as well with is a plus for any more it shows this isnt some cheap Syfy channel movie, i'l be honest the director has done a really good job here especially when it comes to playing with emotions. A lot of the scene is accompanied by a score that fits the moment it a hard feel to express when the score works so well with what is being shown on the screen.

The is a very throwback to the 80s style movie, that kind of reminds me of the film short circuit in a way, where someone finds the robot they met a girl and fall in love. The great thing about this film is that they don't just through you into the film without a purpose it gives you a background and reason as well for A.X.L which set the film up perfectly.

There is time this film gets emotional especial the ending of the film, that damn near broke my heart, it that bond between character and A.X,L that really give you a sense of contacts, even those this film is great it sadly not without its flaws, but this film is a great family film to watch with your kids. will depend on your taste of film as not everyone is gonna like this film.

Dislikes:

• The blatant flaw really is the romance between two characters for a short film this love interest does feel the force.

• The other thing I think this film could have a bit longer just to develop the character better, other than that the film is great.

Overall: Great family film, Great score music portraying moment, good story.

Rating: 5 out of 10 for Entertainment / 7 out of 10 story/family film