These days in an effort to get movies off the ground, indie filmmakers are prone to creating short films that exposit the concept of their feature film for the audience allowing them a chance to expand upon it should they be offered a chance by studios. That’s the basic reasoning for “Archetype.” Made for a little money, “Archetype” is actually quite excellent for such a short film that works as a prologue for the premise of Aaron Sims’ film. What happens when artificial intelligence becomes so intelligent it’s convinced it led a past life? And what happens when the corporation that created the AI finds little ability to convince them otherwise?
Robert Joy stars as a government official who tries to convince a rogue robotic soldier that it is just artificial and meant to eliminate all targets on the field. But the robot codenamed RL-7 is convinced that not only is it human, but it has a wife and child that it once knew and wants to find. This all boils down to a heated session of fractured memories where Joy’s character attempts to inject in the robot’s memory banks that it is merely imagining things. Or is it? As with most short films that set the stage for a larger premise, there are many ambiguous elements set forth that are left unanswered. Maybe RL-7 is just so advanced that it’s built this notion that it has Earthly attachments.
Or maybe the intelligence is born from some form of human essence within the robotic soldiers that is beginning to take on a life of its own. Maybe the corporation went too far. Aaron Sims special effects are masterful and the robotic designs for his main character is wonderful. I fully expect to see this blossom in to a feature length film, and I hope it transforms in to a gripping movie. Filled with excellent special effects, a unique cast, and a very interesting premise filled with possibilities to be a thought provoking bit of science fiction fodder, “Archetype” is a great base for a feature film.