Robgen industries newest security system is “The J Series Automatic”, an android model designed and programmed to protect humans from violent attacks. But one night, an Automatic named J269 discovers a Robgen executive trying to rape a female employee named Nora Rochester. While trying to stop the crime, he inadvertently kills the executive. At this point, J269 then calls Goddard Marx (his creator and a Robgen chairman) to inform him of the incident. Marx tells the android to stay there with Rochester until help arrives, but Marx is intent on sweeping the fiasco under the rug by sending mercenaries to eliminate both J269 and Rochester. Now the two are fugitives on the run from a para-military hit squad.
If you’ve ever contemplated what would happen if some junky B-movie producer combined elements from Robocop, Terminator, Die Hard, and Disclosure, then Automatic is the cinematic answer. This movie contains the single oddest plot ever concocted for a straight-to-video sci-fi action thriller; even more unlikely is that the movie works on its own wonky terms. Olivier Gruner (playing another Cyborg as he did in Nemesis) is the android hero, and the film’s script gives the kickboxer-turned-actor an opportunity to play multiple machine/human hybrids. But in typical fashion, it is the sardonic and energetic performance from John Glover that steals the show.
The action quotient is high, and while Automatic is not highbrow art, it is very entertaining. The special effects are impressive for the era and this level of filmmaking. Automatic should be considered alongside Nemesis and Savate as an upper-tier entry in the action star’s film cannon. This B-movie is fast-paced and loaded with gunplay, kicks, and chicks; this is one of the best “Friday Night Guy Movies” I’ve seen in a long time.
Directed by: John Murlowski
Written by: Avi Nesher, Susan Lambert
Starring: Olivier Gruner, Daphne Ashbrook, John Glover
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