Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, James Corden, Bobby Cannavale, Brian Tyree Henry, Sam Richardson, Ben Falcone, Michael Beach, Rachel Ticotin, Jessica St. Clair, Karan Soni, Jean Smart, Ken Griffey Jr., Octavia Spencer, William Daniels, Steve Mallory, Courtney Patterson, Usman Ally, Jenna Perusich, Carolyn Trahan, Jay Lay, Sarah Baker, Mac Alsfeld, Damon Jones, Eduardo Franco, Patrick Bristow.

The enormity of being singled out as a representative for anything can be overwhelming, but if you were to be told that you alone had the fate of humanity in your hands, if you were chosen by some other entity to be the case study of whether the species was permitted to continue to exist, or if indeed destroyed, or enslaved, then surely the extent of your actions undertaken would bare witness to how your mind works in such extreme situations.

Of course the chances are in your favour that you would never be the one to suffer the moment of absolute truth, however if a Superintelligence was to make contact with Earth and see the Human race for what it was and what it could be, then even if you weren’t the recipient of unwelcome attention, you would still be the one, along with every else on the planet who would suffer for one person’s actions.

Perhaps we can even think of one person who might just be the average everyday individual who would see us through, strong but not glaringly fanatical, compassionate but not weak in the face of oppression, funny but not bombastic, the average joe and jane who would see us through the crisis and become the face for humanity’s salvation; and in some respects, the talented Melissa McCarthy would be the one person who might just embody the kindness and forethought to see us march to the beat of our own existence.

Superintelligence, even by its painted admission with the crafty nod to the computer programme, Joshua, in the 1980s film War Games, has its darkness that dims the light of what could be seen as a heart-warming romantic comedy set against the back drop of inevitable persecution by artificial intelligence, and the fact that it readily uses James Corden as the supposed soothing voice of the entity with humanity’s fate in its sights, could be seen as trying to appeal to a softer toned audience than say for example going the whole nine yards and utilising a voice of depth and sheer gravity; for in that lays the problem of the film. Melissa McCarthy does everything she has been asked to do and captures the character with ease, Bobby Cannavale, one of the most natural talents around is cruelly underused, and Mr. Corden just doesn’t have the inspiration to give a combination of stern excess and warm-hearted appeal in equal measure.

There are bright spots in the film which give it a more than average feel, but they are few and far between, Jean Smart as the President graces the scenes in which she is placed, the overall idea is one that catches the senses, and Melissa McCarthy proves yet again she is a comic heroine when placed under the pressure of carrying a film, but it is with sadness that the aforementioned War Games, almost 40 years old now is a reminder of what this film could have been, illuminating darkness in a imaginatively conceived script, one bound together by serious humour, on and off screen.

Ian D. Hall