Westworld/Review 2

Escapism has always been a part of human life. Whether you feel sad or depressed, you need something entertaining to relax. But are you sure that these entertaining things will not harm you later? There are two movies that raise the question about escapism. First there's Dawn Of The Dead by George A. Romero. It tells us that materialism doesn't create happiness in our lives. The second film is Westworld, which asks us: "Are you sure that nothing can go wrong while you're enjoying your holiday?"

Peter and John go to Delos, the amusement park that has three "worlds" inside. First, there's Medieval World, in which you could be a knight and have swordfight. Second, Roman World, in which you could live like a Roman emperor like Augustus or Caligula. Finally, Westworld, in which you could be a sheriff, shoot outlaws and drink whiskey. Every world has robots that are almost indistinguishable from humans, you can shoot them or have sex with them. Peter and John choose Westworld. At first, they seem to enjoy this world a lot. They drink, fight and have sex. Then, something goes terribly wrong. The malfunctions of the robots (I guess it's the equivalent of a computer virus) spread all over three worlds, which cause the robots to kill visitors. The Gunslinger, one of the robots that Peter and John thought they killed, returns and kills John so Peter must escape and try to survive in this chaotic dystopia as long as possible.

This film tells us directly about how corrupt business is. The voiceover that played when visitor arrived tells that you can have fun in the world and "Nothing can go wrong". But after scientists find one of the snake robots bit John, one says "I think we should close Delos for investigation". Unfortunately, the head scientist decides to not allow any further guests to arrive and believes that he can control the situation. That's a very bad decision because they care about money more than the current safety of their guests, just like every evil corporation. So finally the scientists all die because of a ventilation system failure. Bravo.

Another thing that many people remember about this film is The Gunslinger, a robot that's supposed to be a villain for visitors. The scientists decide to install new sensory equipment in his system. So when the other robots go wild, Gunslinger becomes tougher and harder to escape from. In fact, he reminds me of the original Terminator. Both characters are scary, indestructible, and will never stop until they kill you. But, unlike Terminator, the chase sequences are depicted in the last quarter of the film. I think it's pretty cool because the first hour tells us that something is slowly going wrong, so when it finally goes totally wrong in final part, it shocks you effectively.

Disneyland and Universal are still running today, but are you sure that it won't end up like Westworld? Watch this film, it thrills you and it might change your opinion about theme park and robots forever.

Reviewed by Nuttawut Permphithak - 9/6/13