A-X-L Movie Review

A-X-L (2018)

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Written by: Oliver Daly
Directed by: Oliver Daly
Starring: Alex Neustaedter, Becky G, Alex MacNicoll, Thomas Jane, Ted McGinley
Rated: PG
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Plot
A.X.L. is a top-secret, robotic dog who develops a special friendship with Miles and will go to any length to protect his new companion.

Verdict
I liked this more than I thought. It's very derivative, but there's something indelible about a boy and his (robot) dog. It's an easy watch because you've seen something in part or in whole like this.
It depends.

Review
Miles is competing in an expensive sport, motocross. He's good, but the rich bully wrecks him during a race causing him to lose. The rich bully is a flat character, present just to push the plot forward and antagonize characters for no real reason.

It's because of the bully that Miles finds AXL. We know AXL escaped, but we don't know why or how, other than the story dictates it.

While AXL is aggressive at first, when Miles helps AXL, the robot dog decides Miles is friendly and alters the programming.

The movie relies heavily on the unscrupulous scientist that allows the Miles-AXL relationship to build despite the inherent dangers to advance his research. Apparently the scientist has never been able to create a bond between human and robot.

There's plenty in the movie that stretches credibility, but it's a boy and dog story with a new cover. This dog is a robot. I expected this movie to be terrible, and it's not which is an accomplishment.

It's a synthesis of similar stories. This isn't a good movie, but it doesn't ask much and has a couple of touching moments due to the nature of the story.