Metropolis Greatest Movie Ever
What's with the focus on the robot? If she did start developing "human" feelings, including anger, so what? Do we take the robot's ability to imitate negative human emotions as some sort of profound revelation? Then, is the point of the movie to make sure we don't create these robots, cause they can do us harm?
Rather than the convential sci-fi themes of "what happens when robots become human" or "can robots become human", this movie shows tima more or less as a vehicle of human evil, as she was created not only to replace the crazy father's dead daughter, but also to become the centerpiece of his diabolical scheme to reign in ultimate power. Tima's breakdown at the end is just a realization of that evil, to show how twisted the "father" really is, and his evil plans that finally bite him in the ass.
What surprises me is that nobody notices who saved the world at the end of the day: Rock. Yes, the "villain." I think more important and relevant than a robot's demonstration of human anger is the fact that the villain's love saved the world. Rock's unrequited love for the twisted man whom he called "father" was the self-sacrificial act that prevented tima from causing an apocalyptic ending. True, his love was perverted in a sense; his father did not love him, but we are aware that Rock is grateful for how the man took him in. Thus, it is this absolute and unfailing loyalty that he follows his "father's" orders; however, since his father's orders are themselves evil assignments, we see Rock as cruel and heartless; the passion with which he does them, we see that as relentless. The fact that he does these deeds out of his love for his father, coupled with the fact that his "father" despises him and tells him not to call him "father," makes us wonder who the villain is? Or, how can a bitter man who so loved his daughter that he wishes not only for her to be brought back but also to rule the world, be blamed for rejecting a pathetic scoundrel who dares call him "father?"
All this, goes rather unnoticed, as my senses have been greatly dulled by the expectations created by mindless and formulaic american movies. However, once Rock hits that button and cries out for his father, and the SONG starts, "I can't stop loving you"...this is movie magic...if twists were the end all, this would be the grand pretzel. But more than gimmicks, the climactic finale divulges the grand theme of "love saves the day", but eliminates the off-putting pretension that makes one lose his stomach (i can't list the billions of movies that does this), by giving it the flavor of humanity, of weakness, that makes this theme of love a more tangible reality, a corrupted, broken love, but love nonetheless. Love, as twisted as the person who bears it in his heart, is exclusively human. And that, simply, is brilliant.