Chris Columbus was a perfect alternative for beginning the “Harry Potter” franchise as a result of he had directed one other family-friendly fantasy “Bicentennial Man” simply two years earlier. Though it was extra science fiction, it additionally tells a narrative of somebody with extraordinary talents making an attempt to slot in. Nearly all of Chris Columbus’ movies are sentimental and heat, utilizing both broad humor or heart-tugging melodrama to rejoice the fantastical occasions that may happen even in strange suburbia.
Set sooner or later, “Bicentennial Man” is a component comedy and half weepie about Andrew, a robotic servant who grows near the household he’s cooking, cleansing, and babysitting for. Like every robotic who has sentience, he desires to be greater than a machine and develop into a human man. He embarks on a 200-year journey to take action, advocating for rights as a brand new robot-turned-human, and calling into query the beliefs of consciousness, immortality, and technological ethics. This all feels particularly prescient in mild of immediately’s AI takeover. Andrew desires to be a “full” human being, and that features falling in love and having intercourse. He experiences this with Portia, the granddaughter of his unique proprietor, making for fairly the Might-December romance. Their offbeat love story has one of many weirdest kisses in sci-fi historical past, contemplating their shut household ties and Andrew’s clunky innocence.
Since “Bicentennial Man” was made in 1999, shortly earlier than fully-CGI characters would develop into extra ubiquitous on display, the sensible design of the robotic was performed by particular results artist Steve Johnson. He crafted a complete silver bodysuit, together with a head equipment produced from vacuum-formed plastic and foam rubber, sculpted to uncannily resemble star Robin Williams’ face (by way of Heritage Auctions). Apparently, Robin Williams absolutely embraced this heavy and odd-looking costume he needed to put on.
Robin Williams wore a metallic swimsuit and a masks that appeared similar to him
Buena Vista Footage Distribution
Whereas it may’ve been anybody beneath the blocky costume, Robin Williams insisted on carrying it, telling the Las Vegas Solar, “It needed to be me, or audiences would have observed it did not act or transfer like me — you realize that bow-legged stroll I’ve. I needed to put on this suit-of-armor costume, and so they adjusted all of the engineering round my physique.” No computerized particular impact may recreate the intimacy of getting Robin Williams actually current for the scenes or witnessing the human spark within Andrew rising stronger.
Costumes affect how actors transfer, suppose, and emote. Robin Williams drew on his Juilliard coaching to inhabit the heavy swimsuit with no peripheral imaginative and prescient. The restricted movement, he defined, helped him really feel Andrew’s technological operation and curiosity in his physique, in addition to absolutely immerse himself in Andrew’s mechanical manner of perceiving the world:
“You begin to learn the way a robotic will monitor a room earlier than you progress. You stand, scan, after which, increase, you go. Which is what they do once you take a look at the analysis for robotic motion. What they’re doing is principally mapping the territory, on the lookout for obstacles, doing a 3-D illustration, after which transferring. Now all they should do is figure on the pace — which is frightening to suppose as a result of science is to not far off.”
Over 25 years later, Tesla robots are type of our personal variations of Andrew. Will they finally battle to develop into greater than our home subordinate? “Bicentennial Man” is unquestionably not the most effective Robin Williams film (it was additionally a field workplace flop), nevertheless it does exhibit how Williams’ star energy is so nice that he delivers a touching efficiency with loads of coronary heart and humor even from behind a chilly, metallic shell.
