Short Circuit

Hey thar, didn't expect to have enough time to write on here. The senior class (which happens to include me) at Segerstrom High School is busy with some nonsensical vanity project called the "Senior Exit Portfolio", which is ostensibly to provide an opportunity for us seniors to reflect on our high school career. Of course, I think it's just another act of self-gratification on the school's part, but whatever, I'll live.

Plus, AP exams are bearing down upon us, so my AP teachers (with the notable exception of my AP English Lit teacher) are going nuts. This means lots of homework is due this week, but fortunately, I managed to finish mine early today! XD

Anyway, the point is, after finishing my homework, I got to watch the 80's classic, Short Circuit. I've always wanted to watch it, but I never actually got around to doing so until today, thanks to the netflix instant que on my brother's PS3.

The film is about Number (or later in the film, Johnny) 5, a robot developed by the Nova security company for consumption by the military. Although the beginning makes it clear Number 5 is just one of many similar robots (dubbed "Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transports" or SAINTs') designed to destroy enemy tanks and trucks, his programming is rearranged when the generator he is connected to is struck by lightning, granting him sentience. He manages to escape the Nova facility, much to the ire of Newton Crosby, the inventor of the SAINT, and Howard Marner, the apparent CEO of Nova. As Crosby and his partner, a stereotypical Indian technician named Ben Jabituya (actually a white guy in brownface, if you'll believe it), try to capture Number 5 before the Nova security forces destroy him, Number 5 meets a hippy-dippy weather girl named Stephanie Speck (played by Ally Sheedy, the "basket case" from The Breakfast Club), and learns, among other things, how to talk and about death. The latter is done particularly well in that Number 5 accidentally kills a grasshopper, and brushes it off, believing it it will "reassemble" itself, like one of the SAINT robots. However, Stephanie explains to him that it can't reassemble itself since it's dead, and only then does Number 5 realize that when the Nova security men disassemble him, they will kill him, leaving him understandably shaken.

Despite the way I described the scene above, the movie as a whole is very light-hearted and surprisingly funny. Much of the humor comes from Ben, whose horribly mangled and gratuitous English makes the things he say that much funnier. In one scene, he pushes Stephanie several times on the ground to protect her from gunfire, and leaves her with the all-too-serious line "Bye bye, goofy woman. I enjoyed repeatedly throwing you to the ground". Not to say the other characters were not funny, as Number 5 and virtually every character in the movie provided comedy relief at some point. Somehow, it managed to do this in a pleasant manner, unlike last year's diaster, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which also presented every character as a form of comedy relief.

The music was okay, but then again, it's an 80's classic, up there with The Goonies and The Breakfast Club. The music is supposed to be silly! Power ballads and a synth score abound, with a particularly quirky march piece being played whenever military or Nova security forces are on-screen. The 1970's manages to invade the soundtrack when Number 5 watches parts of Saturday Night Fever at Stephanie's house before trying to dance.

The actor's all did an excellent job, with Fisher Steven's portrayal of Ben being my favorite. At times, Stephanie could feel overbearing, but that's more of an issue with the way the character was written than Sheedy's acting ability. Austin Pendleton did a great job conveying Marner's growing frustration with his men's inability to capture Number 5, and Steve Guttenberg did an equally great job displaying Crosby's gradual change from disbelief about 5's sentience to determination to save him from destruction.

Overall, I'd give Short Circuit 10 stars out of 10. The humor manages to balance with drama, with the movie never descending into idiotic shenanigans like those seen on The Disney Channel or pretentious existential discussion about Number 5's unique situation (which can be summed up in Stephanie's line "Life is NOT a malfunction!" I'm surprised us pro-lifers haven't picked that one up yet) . The worst thing about it is that it seemed too short. Oh well, at least I can watch the sequel some time.